Media clips
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This week, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) announced that although some 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the crisis began — a number that rose to 30 million since its study was published — that number drastically understates the economic devastation in the US.
In a survey published on Tuesday, the think tank found that up to 13.9 million other Americans were eligible for the benefits. A portion of those people applied but never had their documents processed. Others “did not try to apply because it was too difficult to do so.”
Business Insider May 5, 2020 -
The Covid-19 pandemic has yanked the bottom out of the economy, and the working class is plunging into the debt hole first. In 2019, most Americans lacked the savings to cover an emergency. Now, over 26.5 million people have filed for unemployment in the United States since mid-March, and countless more have been unable to file for benefits as overwhelmed state unemployment agencies cannot keep up with demand. (A recent survey from the Economic Policy Institute estimates between 8.9 million and 13.9 million people who should qualify have not gained access to needed benefits.) Meanwhile, countless others have been furloughed, have had their hourly work reduced, or have lost income as they instead take care of sick family or homebound children. Some economists are predicting unemployment rates rivaling or even exceeding Great Depression figures. The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package offsetting the enormous, unexpected financial catastrophe includes considerable support for homeowners, allowing people with government-backed mortgages to skip payments for up to a year, instead adding them to the mortgage balance. This necessary economic balm has no counterpart for renters, though. Payments are still due. The emergency is here.
WIRED May 5, 2020 -
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Another 3.8 million U.S. workers filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The new figures bring the total over six weeks to more than 30 million as the coronavirus crisis continues to shut down businesses. The once unthinkable total could even be an undercount, economists say, as many states have been overwhelmed by the rush of applications for unemployment benefits, which Congress have extended to include self-employed taxpayers. A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that about 50 percent more people than were counted might have been eligible but found the process too daunting. “The problem is even bigger than the data suggest,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist with the left-leaning research institute. [The New York Times]
Yahoo May 5, 2020 -
The stereotype of Sun Valley, in and outside of Idaho, is a town dominated by a bunch of rich, white, out-of-state skiers with second homes. But Blaine County is far more than Sun Valley (one of four “major” small towns in the area), and the lived reality of its full-time residents tells a story that will sound familiar to people living in far more dense urban areas. Idaho, as a whole, is 93% white. Yet 48% of school-age children in the Blaine County school district, according to the school board chair, are Latino. Almost half of students in the district qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The county seat of Hailey, population 8,282, ranked ninth in the nation for most severe income inequality in a 2018 study from the Economic Policy Institute.
Buzzfeed May 5, 2020 -
A key reason for that emerges from a survey by the Economic Policy Institute. It found that up to 12 million more people have lost jobs but haven’t filed a claim for benefits, either because they couldn’t get through to their state’s overwhelmed system or they didn’t try, perhaps because it was too difficult.
“These findings imply the official count of unemployment insurance claims likely drastically understates the extent of employment reductions,” wrote Ben Zipperer and Elise Gould, economists at EPI.
Richmond Times-Dispatch May 5, 2020 -
Las páginas web y oficinas estatales se encuentran colapsadas por la cantidad de personas que intentan hacer uso de su subsidio. Una interesante encuesta del Economic Policy Institute dió a conocer que por cada 10 personas que solicitaron el subsidio hay tres o cuatro que lo intentaron infructuosamente y otras dos que ni siquiera lo intentaron por la dificultad del proceso. Encuéntralo en este enlace de Univisión
Ahoramismo May 5, 2020 -
But the numbers are likely much higher. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that beyond those who filed successful claims, roughly half more were unsuccessful or did not try because of the formidable barriers in the country’s unemployment systems.
The Astorian May 5, 2020 -
Since mass closures of public areas and businesses were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the last weeks, more than 30.3 million people have filed for joblessness aid, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the economy losing more than 700,000 jobs in just one month — adding up to be one in six American workers. That number could be even more damning than initial statistics let on, with a survey by the Economic Policy Institute finding that around 12 million more people have lost jobs but haven’t filed a claim because couldn’t get through their state’s overwhelmed system or they didn’t try. Pop Culture May 5, 2020 -
“Basically we passed one really big bill, it lasted through the end of 2010 and then it kind of turned off,” said Josh Bivens, the director of research at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “By that point, Congress had changed hands and everything shifted toward more austerity.”
Both Bivens and Drezner say that the stimulus packages already passed aren’t enough. “Given the shocking size of the contraction we’re facing, it’s going to be too small,” Bivens said, citing new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office predicting that unemployment could remain in the double digits in 2021. “The CBO projections look pretty solid to me and they’re kind of horrifying.”
Bivens predicts that the “real test” for Congress will come after the worst of the pandemic is over, when people are returning to work and the economy is slowly reopening, but unemployment is still rampant and millions continue to struggle. “I think almost everyone on Capitol Hill is like, Yes, during a recession, you need to do a big stimulus package, you need to run up the debt,” he said. “But then just as soon as that recession is over they want to get back to worrying about deficits and debt.”
VICE May 5, 2020 -
A survey by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute estimated that 12 million people had tried and failed to claim unemployment insurance, or didn’t even try because it seemed difficult. That would swell the true number of unemployed people close to 40 million, said Elise Gould, an economist at the institute.
“The official numbers underestimate the amount of economic devastation that’s happening,” Gould said. The official total was 28 million jobless claims as of last week. Millions more were still waiting to file claims, she said.
States need more help to process claims and provide emergency help like food, she said, and the federal government needs to provide more money to states, because states are generally bound by balanced-budget rules.
“These people are having trouble paying the May rent, the mortgage and all their bills,” Gould said. “States need to be providing additional aid, but because of balanced-budget amendments they’ll have to cut their budgets, which is the last thing we need.”
Pew Charitable Trust May 5, 2020