Memo: Voters Strongly Oppose Cutting the Income of Millions of Americans

Support Extending Expanded Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Executive Summary

  • Framing Unemployment Insurance (UI) as income was the most effective message about reasons to keep expanded UI in effect by a narrow margin.

  • Voters strongly support extending expanded UI, and would prefer to vote for candidates who support it

  • Republican arguments against continuing enhanced UI were not persuasive 

The expanded unemployment benefits, passed as a part of “The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (CARES) Act, gave out of work Americans an extra 600 dollars per week on top of their existing state unemployment benefits. The aim of this provision was to ensure that workers would maintain 100 percent of their pre-pandemic wages. This expanded benefit is set to expire on July 31, unless Congress and the White House extend it. In a poll at the end of June and into July, from Data for Progress, in collaboration with Groundwork Action, we tested support for extending this expanded UI benefit. We found strong support for renewal of expanded benefits, and an indication that voters would reward candidates for supporting its renewal. 

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