More Than $80 Million Paid in Unemployment to Millionaires

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According to a report from Bloomberg, the United States government paid close to $80 million in unemployment benefits to households that made more than $1 million. This includes a record of $29.9 million in 2010, according to tax records.

IRS data compiled by Bloomberg shows that 3,200 households that reported adjusted gross income of more than $1 million also received jobless-insurance payments that averaged $12,600 back in 2010. Close to 20 percent of the households are from New York.

  

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“So many people are taking advantage of government support that they probably feel like, why shouldn’t they take advantage of it, too?” said George Walper Jr., president of the Spectrem Group.

The data shows that 610 households that made $1 million or more in 2010 received jobless benefits in 2010 in New York. In California, 810 households reported receiving jobless benefits despite making $1 million.

During the 2012 budget year, unemployment benefit payments rose to $94 billion, which is triple the $33 billion paid out in 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In 2010, payment peaked at $150 billion.

Walper said that many households are staying conservative when it comes to their spending habits because of the memories of the recession still strong in everyone’s minds.

“These are people who still shop at Wal-Mart or Costco,” he said. Unemployment assistance “might not make a difference economically, but it’s going to make a difference emotionally.”