Premature termination of unemployment benefits increased COVID-19 transmission and deaths in the USA
John S. Earle
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 02 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02431-6 Park et al. show that discontinuing pandemic unemployment insurance in 2021 tripled rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the USA. Expanded unemployment insurance served as a non-pharmaceutical intervention by incentivizing physical distancing during a severe pandemic.