Impact of $600 unemployment bonus and people going back to work

[Ottakee]

2 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

My brother is one of the people getting more on UI than he usually earns.  He earns about $18/hr but works 32.5 hours a week (paraeducator/instructional assistant/teaching assistant for sped students).  
 

May I ask what state your brother lives in?  I do the same job (and have my special education Teaching certificate too) but make far less an hour.    It is our contract year and I would love to hear what other states/areas are paying.

[Frances]

3 hours ago, EmseB said:

Because of the vastly reduced tax revenues and rapidly contracting economy, I would think. There was no government or virus mandated economic shutdown during those other things you mentioned.

But the TCJA gave massive tax cuts, primarily to the wealthy and corporations, during a long period of economic expansion following the Great Recession and resulted in ever increasing deficits while we still have crumbling infrastructure. At least my state was smart enough to save during the good times after the recession and now we are in the top five among states for best financial position to weather this economic crisis.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Frances

[LucyStoner]

1 hour ago, Ottakee said:

May I ask what state your brother lives in?  I do the same job (and have my special education Teaching certificate too) but make far less an hour.    It is our contract year and I would love to hear what other states/areas are paying.

We are in Western Washington/Seattle area.  Cost of living is very high.  
 

He’s a temp hire with about 1 year on the job.  
 

He’s in a lower paid district for our area.  I think he started at $16.  In my district, paras are paid between $20-24/hr.  Certificated sped teachers make a fair bit more than that.  He was a SAHD for a decade and went through a divorce recently.  His long term plan to to get a sped teaching license or perhaps a degree in social work.  
 

Because he missed some work when my niece was very sick and he’d been working for less than a year and didn’t work last summer, his weekly UI benefit would have been about $200.

 

[LucyStoner]

On 5/10/2020 at 10:09 AM, kdsuomi said:

They're supposed to, but I don't know that all companies (especially smaller) will. 

 

Since their UI rates for 2021 are based on how many people draw benefits from their account, yes, small businesses have a BIG incentive to report people who just quit their jobs/won't come back to work even if safety protocols and social distancing is being followed.  All of my clients are small non-profits and churches.  Most have everyone working from home.  I just responded to inquiries from the state UI office about three different workers from two different organizations and the circumstances around their employment terminations.  1 of the workers was offered work from home but just refuses to work.  I am documenting everything.  

Edited May 13, 2020 by LucyStoner

[PeterPan]

30 minutes ago, kand said:

I read the article, and am surprised to see so many people who seem to have some kind of philosophical objection to masks and/or think a mask is going to harm them. It sounds like perhaps they have been watching some of the conspiracy theory videos or the debunked doctors from Bakersfield. That’s really too bad 😕.

Well I thought the *range* of answers was interesting. If someone is living in an area that is more homogenous, they might be really surprised or tend to think this is just a bunch of hicks blowing steam. But they're quoting so many people, it's noteworthy. I'm seeing it in other places too. I follow a blog about Disney, and reaction to the suggestion that the parks would *require* masks in the US was almost much more negative than I thought it would be. Mostly negative, not even 50/50. 

[Bootsie]

6 hours ago, kdsuomi said:

Again, I know how unemployment works. I do feel that many small businesses will think it will make term look bad if they report people. Even on this thread we have people equating it to either taking an incredibly unsafe job (not true) or their families starving (also not true). At times like this small businesses can't afford any bad publicity. 

On the other had, would it be better publicity that the business is breaking the law and is cooperating with the fraudulent employees?  

[PeterPan]

7 hours ago, kand said:

I agree it’s noteworthy. I don’t know about hicks blowing off steam, I’m just saying it sounds like the consequence of so many millions of people having watched the conspiracy videos that have been going around, and that’s too bad that the makers have succeeded in getting so many people to believe things that aren’t true.

I've never seen a conspiracy video so I have no clue what you're talking about. Maybe the only "conspiracy" out there is within the movement/people who say dissent is not allowed, that we cannot question, that we have to blindly shut up, that no one has the right to say what they want their country to look like. I mean literally LOOK like. And for someone to say well they HAVE to wear masks, it HAS to be that way, well isn't that the point, that a whole swath want to question that and people are saying no, not allowed, can't ask that, can't say that. 

I think Disney's going to have a problem. We'll see how fast they pedal their bikes. If Orlando is not requiring when they open Disney to tourists from outside FL, then I would expect it to drop. They can expect a massive falloff if they don't. 

So I'm trying to look this up, because I'm wondering what FL is doing. It looks like they're deciding mask policies at the county level. And Miami has a little problem, because in one day 600+ people at the park refused to comply with their policy that people should wear a mask while walking in the park. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida/2020/05/01/very-challenging-florida-city-issues-652-face-mask-warnings-1st-day-back-in-parks/  Seriously. Outside. That's not science, that's mind control. That's attempting to BREAK people and say they must fear, they must fear every moment, that we must become like China. And people are rejecting it. 

So we'll have it out with people pushing back, lawsuits, back pedaling. The people have to decide what they want their country to be. 

[katilac]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

 I think Disney's going to have a problem. We'll see how fast they pedal their bikes. If Orlando is not requiring when they open Disney to tourists from outside FL, then I would expect it to drop. They can expect a massive falloff if they don't. <snip>

So I'm trying to look this up, because I'm wondering what FL is doing. It looks like they're deciding mask policies at the county level. And Miami has a little problem, because in one day 600+ people at the park refused to comply with their policy that people should wear a mask while walking in the park. <snip>  That's not science, that's mind control.  

In the first paragraph, do you mean Disney World can expect a massive falloff in number of attendees if they require masks and Orlando doesn't? I wouldn't agree with that.  Local attendees, perhaps, although I still doubt it would be massive. From what I'm reading and hearing, tons of people are raring to get to Disney. And there would be breaks from wearing the masks: you obviously can't wear them while eating and I'm guessing not while you're on certain rides. When I'm in line and such, I would definitely want those around me in masks (even if they have virtual queues, you have to converge together at some point to enter). 

To the second part, I agree that they shouldn't require masks while walkin in the park unless there are complicating factors I'm unaware of, but I'm not sure that 652 people not wearing them the first day is necessarily a huge amount, or that all of them were 'refusing' to wear the mask. Miami is huge and they've been stuck at home, I can't imagine the number of people flooding the parks right now. A fair number of people may have simply forgotten their masks, and I'm sure a very large number were testing the waters to see if it was 'really' required. 

It's a bridge too far to call bad policy "mind control." 

Edited May 13, 2020 by katilac

[PeterPan]

1 minute ago, katilac said:

do you mean Disney World can expect a massive falloff in number of attendees if they require masks and Orlando doesn't? I wouldn't agree with that.  Local attendees, perhaps, although I still doubt it would be massive.

I guess we'll just see. I'm planning a trip back, been saving my nickels, so I'm watching. 

[katilac]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

I guess we'll just see. I'm planning a trip back, been saving my nickels, so I'm watching. 

Will you go if they require masks? Would that be too difficult for your ds? 

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

Will you go if they require masks? Would that be too difficult for your ds? 

There's actually going to be a lot more interesting situation than that, because I was stacking the brief Disney trip with a cruise. So some of how this goes down will reflect what's going on in the port location and at the state level. I will make a decision as I get closer and see what's happening. 

[Arcadia]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-staggering-number-of-laid-off-workers-are-receiving-more-money-from-unemployment-benefits-than-when-they-were-employed-2020-05-26
“A staggering number of laid-off workers are receiving more money in unemployment benefits than they did from their jobs

As federal lawmakers debate another relief package for the coronavirus pandemic that’s put approximately 35 million Americans out of work, a new study shows how generous (or not) the added unemployment benefits were in the initial stimulus bill addressing the crisis.

Two-thirds (68%) of jobless workers would bring home more money from their state unemployment insurance and $600 weekly supplement from the federal government than they would on the job, according to University of Chicago researchers. 

In fact, one in every five eligible workers would receive benefits that were at least double their lost earnings, added the researchers, who emphasized that they weren’t taking a position on whether the benefits were too much or too little.

The median earnings-replacement rate was 134% of lost wages, they estimated. In every state, the median earnings-replacement rate exceeded lost wages, ranging from 129% in Maryland to 177% in New Mexico. 

The supplemental $600 weekly benefit was one part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that also included direct $1,200 checks to most Americans, and potentially forgivable business loans. The additional jobless benefits expire at the end of July.

The Chicago study, distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research this week, said the benefit was a “substantial income expansion” for lower-income workers but pointed out that many workers might have also lost health insurance when they lost their wages.“

[2squared]

On 5/10/2020 at 1:38 PM, hippiemamato3 said:

And so the choice comes down to work under unsafe conditions, or starve. Interesting that anyone would think that's acceptable. 

Reality is that people do have to work to produce food and other essentials for society. Having people work isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity.

Employers seem to be doing their best to make conditions as safe as possible.