Why we're seeing mass layoffs in the US but not the UK

Tens of millions of Americans are out of work because of the coronavirus. But it didn't have to be that way -- and it's not too late for the US to change course.

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Few Americans alive today have ever seen unemployment numbers as bad as they are right now. At the end of April 2020, economists estimated that between 13 and 18 percent of US workers were unemployed. It's the highest rate since the Great Depression.

That figure can seem somewhat inevitable; the unfortunate but unavoidable cost of economic lockdown. It’s why, in response, Congress has prioritized shoring up unemployment insurance benefits.

But a handful of European countries have shown that mass unemployment isn’t a given in a situation like this. It’s a policy choice.

In this video, we explain how and why the UK, Denmark, and the Netherlands chose a different path. With the help of economist Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute, we explore whether the US can still avoid millions more job losses.

Sources/further reading:

The Nordic Way to Economic Rescue (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/business/nordic-way-economic-rescue-virus.html

Keeping Business Alive: The Government as Buyer of Last Resort (Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, UC Berkeley): http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/coronavirus.pdf

A ‘phase four’ relief and recovery package should provide economic assistance to state and local governments, extended unemployment benefits, and better protections for workers and jobs (Josh Bivens, Celine McNicholas, and Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute): https://www.epi.org/blog/a-phase-four-stimulus-package-should-provide-economic-assistance-to-state-and-local-governments-extended-unemployment-benefits-and-better-protections-for-workers-and-jobs/

Why Is America Choosing Mass Unemployment? (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/opinion/covid-economy-unemployment-europe.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

Coronavirus: Government to pay up to 80% of workers' wages (BBC): https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51982005

Social Security: Unemployment Insurance (VCU Social Welfare History Project): https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/social-security/social-security-unemployment-insurance/

The Unemployment Rate Is Probably Around 13 Percent (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/upshot/coronavirus-jobless-rate-great-depression.html

Jobless claims top 30 million as coronavirus continues to devastate economy (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/jobless-claims-top-30-million-coronavirus-continues-devastate-economy-n1196276

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