Few go back to work when unemployment benefits are cut off early

 Despite the rhetoric, few Americans returned to work when red states cut back unemployment benefits early. Instead, consumer spending dropped, hurting the economies of those states. Half the states (26), all with Republican governors except one, have ceased expanded unemployment benefits during Covid. "Several recent studies, however, have concluded that the extra payments have played only a small role in this year’s labor shortages."

"Data released Friday by the Labor Department provided the latest evidence. It showed that the states that cut benefits have experienced job growth similar to — and perhaps slightly slower than — growth in states that retained the benefits. That was true even in the leisure and hospitality sector, where businesses have been particularly vocal in their complaints about the benefits."

Cutting benefits failed to force people back to work because they couldn't find childcare, didn't find jobs, refused to work due to the  more dangerous Delta variant (had health problems themselves or had family members to protect), were unwilling to work for low wages, 

"Cutting off the benefits left unemployed workers worse off on average. The researchers estimate that workers lost an average of $278 a week in benefits because of the change, and gained just $14 a week in earnings. They compensated by cutting spending by $145 a week — a roughly 20 percent reduction — and thus put less money into their local economies."

Get the details from Ben Casselman writing for The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/business/economy/unemployment-benefits-economy-states.html?campaign_id=12&emc=edit_my_20210823&instance_id=38609&nl=your-money&regi_id=83720664&segment_id=67012&te=1&user_id=bde4c6c63beab087f13b761e1ee9fe1e