5 May
Over the last two months the US has witnessed more than 30 million workers filing for unemployment benefits.
Although unemployment benefits are being provided to some of the people, these benefits are not reaching everyone due to wide disparity in processing claims and eligibility criteria.
Timothy McBride, Bernard Becker Professor at Washington University in St. Louis’ Brown School, tweeted an article detailing how mass unemployment can be avoided if a federal job guarantee is provided.
The current unemployment benefits programme is inefficient and uses disparate policies to process claims, leaving many unemployed workers at risk of food insecurity, depression, and losing their homes.
A federal job guarantee programme can help unemployed people by providing minimum wages enabling them to meet basic needs and maintaining their health.