Mar 4, 2021

The status of new stimulus checks

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President Joe Biden is apparently backing a compromise in the Senate that makes fewer people eligible for $1,400 dollar relief checks. Plus, just how high weekly unemployment claims have been throughout the pandemic. And, a push for the Biden administration to decriminalize sex work — an industry transformed by the pandemic — as part of its criminal justice reform.

Segments From this episode

Senate compromise on stimulus payments would set lower income caps for eligibility

Individuals making more than $80,000 a year, or couples earning more than $160,000, would not get a payment. Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall-Genzer has more.

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COVID & Unemployment

After nearly a year, weekly unemployment claims remain high

by Mitchell Hartman

Mar 4, 2021

These persistently high jobless claims indicate a lot of labor market volatility.

Every week since the pandemic shutdowns started in March 2020, there have been more new unemployment claims filed than in any single week during the Great Recession.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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COVID-19

COVID transformed the sex work industry, but not the laws governing it

by Erika Beras

Mar 4, 2021

Some argue that legislation passed to prevent online sex trafficking is blocking a range of consensual transactions.

"Sex work was among a kind of array of jobs that are incredibly vulnerable and precarious, like in the gig economy where you’re not protected," said Mireille Miller-Young, a feminist studies professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Pictured: Activists and sex workers participate in a protest in Miami Beach, Florida.

Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Ocean Voices Jean Thiel

The team

David Brancaccio Host

Victoria Craig Host, BBC

Stephen Ryan Senior Producer, BBC

Jonathan Frewin Producer, BBC

Daniel Shin Producer

Jay Siebold Technical Director

Brian Allison Engineer

Meredith Garretson Morbey Senior Producer

Erika Soderstrom Producer

Rose Conlon Producer

Alex Schroeder Producer

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