Unemployment Benefits in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered an unprecedentedly rapid shock to the US economy, sending unemployment rates to levels not seen since the Great Depression. In response, Congress enacted—on a temporary basis—one of the largest Federal expansions of unemployment benefits in US history. With the expiration of some of those changes already approaching, Michele Evermore, Senior Policy Analyst at the National Election Law Project joins to discuss changes in unemployment benefits over time, the pandemic response, and the decisions policymakers face.