But that requires making it financially feasible for people to stay home: another direct stimulus payment, more supplemental federal unemployment benefits, rent assistance, and a renewal of eviction moratoriums, among other things. Though Senate Republicans are eager to slash the $600 in extra unemployment Americans have been receiving since April, claiming it incentivizes laziness , data shows that the unemployment boost not only helped those receiving benefits survive in an economy without enough jobs , it also pushed them to spend more during the pandemic than they might have otherwise. While overall consumer spending in Q2 fell by 10%, consumer spending for unemployment recipients increased by 10% . Even those who don’t care about the morality of people being able to afford basics like housing and food might want to care about the larger economics of what happens when you leave so many Americans — you know, the people who produce the value of the GDP — hung out to dry.