An estimated 11.4 million Americans stand to lose their unemployment benefits between March 14 and April 11 unless Congress quickly passes an extension as part of its next coronavirus aid package, according to a new report from The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank.
More than 4 million workers would see their benefits end on March 14 and about 7.3 million more would have their payments expire over the following four weeks. Without another extension, the report says, only some 734,000 workers in 12 states would be able to receive extended state unemployment benefits in April.
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package would continue the emergency unemployment payments and increase benefits under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program from $300 a week to $400 a week. The report says that continuing the pandemic benefits could deliver $9.6 billion a week to families, and it urges lawmakers to act ahead of the March 14 deadline to give states enough time to prepare for the new guidelines and ensure that benefits are not interrupted.
