Federal enhanced unemployment benefits are supposed to last through September, but GOP-controlled states are rushing to cut them off now. Why? Because Republicans believe the benefits are creating a worker shortage.
Without question, some employers are having trouble hiring enough workers.
But it isn’t necessarily unemployment benefits that are keeping them at home. As of last weekend, only 32% of adults were fully vaccinated, and less than half had received a first dose (see latest numbers here); many people still fear getting sick, and possibly dying. (Republicans have opposed pandemic unemployment benefits, and tried to force people back to work regardless of health risks, all along.)
And for many, it’s a lack of child care, which remains widely unavailable. With schools still closed to in-person learning in many places, and child care generally unavailable, parents with young children simply can’t leave home to work. It’s not their fault.
But Republicans are cutting off their income. And, by the way, they oppose federal funding for child care, too. You can vote for them if you want to — it’s still a free country (despite Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy our democracy). But I can’t vote for that.
Read story here.