New Study: Unemployment Benefits Weaken Economy

“People respond to incentives,” said Ryan Young, a regulatory studies fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“Unemployment benefits reduce one’s incentive to look for a job,” Young wrote in an email. “They allow some people to wallow in discouragement longer than they otherwise would. Other people decide that receiving benefits can let them wait until a higher-paying job opens up, instead of having to take the first job available, whatever it is.”