By Ben Popken - NBC News
Unemployed workers in Alaska, Iowa, Missouri and Mississippi will lose their federal unemployment benefits on June 12.
They are the first of the 25 states governed by Republicans that will cut this subsidy, designed to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and that was supposed to expire in September.
Thus begins
a massive social and economic experiment
to see if early cancellation of federal unemployment benefits for half the country will drive people in those states to go back to work.
The Coronavirus Relief, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) passed in March 2020 provided a weekly federal supplement of $ 300 to state unemployment benefits, and the American Rescue Plan expanded it to Labor. Day.
The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, estimates that four million people will lose benefits, totaling $ 22 billion.
Economists and researchers say the measure will only push a small number of people back into the workforce and will
not solve the precariousness of workers who depend on benefits for their basic needs and who stay home for other reasons, such
as concerns about the virus and caring for children or elderly relatives.
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But the other 21 Republican-led states are moving forward with the initiative and will cancel their federal benefits in July to address complaints from employers that they cannot find enough workers to wait tables, make beds and operate factory equipment.
They say
the government is paying people more not to work than they could pay to work,
and they cannot compete.
"While these federal programs provided significant temporary relief, vaccines and jobs are now plentiful. And we have a critical problem where businesses in our state are trying to hire more people, but many are facing severe shortages. of workers, "Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a June 1 statement.
"We hope that more Maryland residents will return to work," he added.
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Combined federal and state unemployment benefits average about $ 650 per week, or about $ 16 per hour for a full-time job.
That's more than some entry-level jobs offer.
Some of the jobs available
are
also
only part-time, which means that the weekly salary is even less than what the government offers.
Health concerns
Pre-existing health conditions are one reason some workers cite for staying home.
Jordan Motteler, 30, of Oklahoma, was a bus driver and her husband worked at Lowe's.
They were both fired in March 2020. Because she and her daughter are immunocompromised and the vaccines are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for people like them, she says her doctor has told her she can't get vaccinated yet.
Her health conditions would put her at risk for heart or respiratory failure if she returns to work and contracts COVID-19.
"I love my job," Motteler said.
"I hate not being able to work."
Without the federal benefit, he only qualifies for $ 189 a week in state unemployment compensation, he said.
Paying for medicine, bills and food, including
baby formula for his daughter, the price of which doubled during the pandemic, will
only get more difficult.
“Who estimates that $ 189 is more than enough to cover food and bills for a family of five?
And now they want to cut it? "Motteler said." I just don't understand how the numbers of the COVID pandemic keep going up, but now they are leaving us to practically fend for ourselves, "he added.
Oklahoma will cut your family's federal benefits on June 26.
Other workers say
finding and paying for childcare is part of what keeps them from re-entering the workforce.
Even with the benefits cut off, the bills just don't add up.
[Unemployment Benefit Claims Fall As More Republican States Eliminate Federal Aid]
Sherry Pratt, 47, lives in New Hampshire and is an unemployed marketing sales representative.
She and her husband have been living off their salary as a warehouse worker.
But your daughter has special needs and
the cost of a skilled after-school caregiver, if she could find one, would eat up most of her potential earnings.
Your state will cut extended federal benefits on June 19.
"I don't think there is a labor shortage, I think
there is a living wage labor shortage,
" Pratt said.
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According to a San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank document released this month, if only 28 people were unemployed, six workers a month would find a job.
Without the benefits seven workers would find it, not much of a difference.
“What about the other 21 workers?
They need something to live on to pay their bills, to put gas in their car, to be able to look for work, ”said Andrew Stettner, a member of the Century Foundation.
"These governors are essentially shooting a foot just to screw them up," he added.
Demand for labor is increasing, but workers are still behind.
There are 9.3 million unemployed workers and at least that many jobs are open.
Americans left their jobs at record levels in April, up to four million of them, showing a sign of confidence in the job market on the part of workers.
Some labor market watchers say employees
are returning to jobs they realize they don't want to return to and quit
in search of better ones.
Others argue that extended benefits make it easier, too easy, for workers to take their time.
Workers say an essential lifeline is being cut.
“I have felt that I have not had much control. And now it's like my bottom is dropping even more, ”Pratt said.
