Human Rights

Coronavirus Cash Crisis: Apply For Unemployment Or Get A Temp Job?

The coronavirus pandemic prompted an unprecedented shutdown of the U.S. economy. But is it better to file for unemployment or get a new job?

Coronavirus Cash Crisis: Apply For Unemployment Or Get A Temp Job?
Rogelio V. Solis / AP
Article by Stephanie Liebergen
SMS
April 23, 2020

Coronavirus Cash Crisis: Is it better to apply for unemployment or find a temporary job?

"I would say the very first thing is to still file for unemployment. You want to get the process started just in case it takes weeks or even months to try to find your next temporary job or a long-term job," said Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial. 

"If you can get a part-time job and if they are providing a secure, healthy environment, then absolutely take the part-time job," said Arindam Nag, chief executive of Centsai.

"With the extra $600 [per week] that the federal government is paying out to individuals on top of each state's unemployment benefit, a lot of individuals are actually going to be making more money on unemployment than they would working in some of the essential services. ... The point of these extra federal payments is to get people to stay home. So staying home, collecting whatever resources are available to you so that we can all prioritize our health and then get this economy back on track," said Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez, a personal finance author.