Beefed-up unemployment benefits that the US government is doling out in the coronavirus crisis are so generous they’re encouraging many recipients to stay home from work, The Post has learned.
The emergency legislation, the CARES Act, which was passed last month, is aimed at helping businesses and workers hurt by coronavirus shutdowns, including through $600 checks to people who can’t work or who were laid off.
But the federal checks combined with pumped-up state unemployment benefits, which in New York can add up to as much as $1,104 a week, means some workers are now getting as much — if not more — through unemployment than they were earning before the pandemic.
