Kevin O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful” on the television show Shark Tank and the president of O’Share’s EFT, supports the continuation of a $400 federal unemployment supplement over a one-time $1,200 payment to individuals, CNBC reports.
.@kevinolearytv on stimulus: ‘We don’t need the $1,200 checks’ — here’s what would help more: https://t.co/DJAGrsMiV5 pic.twitter.com/nDw7AlR0HK
— CNBC Make It (@CNBCMakeIt) October 13, 2020
“We don’t need the $1,200 check to everybody anymore because a lot of those people have now found work again,” he says.
“I would like to see a $400 a week support for the next 14 months [for] anybody that’s unemployed,” O’Leary says. “If you’re unemployed because of the pandemic, we’ll support you with a few hundred dollars a week until you can find a job.”
O’Leary asserts that a $400 supplement would help poor and working families gain housing, food and medical security while still encouraging people to find work.
CNBC refers to a Yale University report that undermines a conservative talking point that federal supplemental unemployment payments do not incent people to not work; the shortage of jobs is the primary reason people aren’t returning to their occupations.
The Yale study found that those with more unemployment benefits found more employment opportunities, either through remote or in-person jobs.