CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING COVID19 UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF PROGRAMS

Controversies Surrounding Covid-19 Unemployment Relief

Programs by: Mishal Khan

The sudden spread of the coronavirus within America beginning in February 2020 has pushed millions of Americans out of work and left hundreds of businesses in financial crisis or complete bankruptcy. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, employment during February 2021 in America decreased by over 8 million from the employment rates recorded in February 2020. Moreover, minimum wage workers, immigrants, and Americans with lower levels of education have been affected the most, often getting laid-off or having to look for new employment opportunities due to employers closing down their businesses. In response, congress passed The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, better known as the CARES act, leading to former President Trump’s decision to officially sign the act on March 27th, 2020. This act offered over two-hundred billion dollars worth of

unemployment insurance benefits through the following programs: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation(PUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance(PUA), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation(PEUC). All three of these programs gave weekly financial supplements to Americans eligible for unemployment benefits, specifically aimed towards citizens unemployed for pandemic related reasons. The purpose of having three programs was to give people who did not meet eligibility for benefits in some programs, an opportunity to gain support from a different program as each program has varying guidelines.

While these financial programs may seem extremely generous from the government’s side as they are essentially giving “free” money to those who have lost their jobs, the CARES act is facing a lot of negative responses as well. One reason being that many American citizens are earning enough not to fall under the poverty line, yet still earning less than the self-sustainability line. Unfortunately, a large number of people who fall under this category continue not to receive the same unemployment benefits as gig workers or those who were laid off, already jobless, self-employed, etc. Due to this, underpaid workers who’ve had their meagre wages lowered even more due to the economic crash from the pandemic, were unable to receive financial support from the government despite struggling to make ends meet for basic necessities.A specific example of this can be seen in the graph shown. While Current Population Surveys recorded in 2019 show that Americans in positions such as cashiers, custodians, and other low-wage jobs were paid approximately $17 an hour, the graph shows that benefits given by unemployment insurance programs are generally over 20 percent greater than the wages earned by people who’ve worked underpaid jobs throughout this pandemic. With the cost of living becoming increasingly higher after another surge of inflation in the economy, the lack of reasonable wages for labor workers in larger corporations has led to a whole other issue revolving around unemployment benefits: temporary laid-off employees’ refusal to return back to business.

According to NBC News, available jobs have increased from a whopping 1 million between March and April 2021 as 9.3 million available jobs were recorded in April 2021. Despite the vast amount of opportunities, businesses

are struggling to fill in open positions. A variety of economic factors including domestic circumstances, the increase in the amount of self-employed Americans, and public health concerns may be causing the widespread resistance against returning back to the workforce. Even so, many political figures and businesses have been quick to point fingers at the weekly unemployment benefits offered by CARES. The whole reason why work being done by low-wage workers who’ve remained in their positions has become extremely valuable during the pandemic is because less people are willing to work minimum wage jobs when they can get similar, if not higher financial compensation through unemployment programs.

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