At the height of the Great Recession, 800,000 jobs were lost in one month. More than 20 million Americans lost their jobs this April.
Typically, unemployment insurance replaces less than half of a worker’s pay. When this crisis began, $600 weekly payments were added because states’ outdated systems (long underfunded by conservatives) couldn’t handle individual calculations.
If we eliminate the $600 weekly payment, millions will face a deeper crisis. In North Carolina, the average unemployed worker will receive only $265 a week: That’s not enough to pay a mortgage, find child care or feed a family.
The above excerpt was originally published in USA Today.
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