[reilly3000]

Below the federal poverty line people can receive food assistance, and sometimes there are state or local programs that help with rent. In general people just work more, borrow more, and live in a perpetual state of financial peril. It’s awful, and even if the situation improves, living like that leaves a lasting blow to the psyche.

[gexla]

I have never had these benefits but I imagine this isn't something which happens on short notice. One of the issues with unemployment was that people would sometimes have to wait for months to get their assistance. When employers received pandemic loans for payroll, the choice was to brush off the employer (against unemployment rules) or take your chances that the employer wouldn't just have to let you go again after X months only to face the unemployment process all over again. The narrative around this was that people would rather stay home and get paid rather than working for their money, but the reality was a bit more complicated.