Being unemployed in a Pandemic

I have several friends and relatives who recently lost their jobs. Most are over 40 and have no idea how to re-start their careers. But before they can restart their career, they first must survive. 

One friend, Tammie, who has worked as an executive assistant for the past 15 years, has been struggling to keep herself afloat now that her unemployment benefits have run out. Although she has a lot of experience, most of the companies she is applying to are looking for someone "younger" to fill the position. The crazy thing about this is, is that the "younger" applicants who are being interviewed for these positions don't have enough experience to successfully do the job. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why -- they're only 23 years old! How much experience do these employers think they have?

In order to save money, Tammie sold her car, moved into a one bedroom apartment and sold some clothes on Ebay. Thankfully, she was "renting" the house she moved out of and the landlord was understanding and let her out of her lease with no penalties. Tammie lost her home to foreclosure during the last recession (2009), and that experience has her made afraid to ever have a mortgage again.

My cousin Ronnie, who was laid off from a hotel, has been working at two grocery stores in order to have enough money to pay his bills and feed his family (wife and 2 kids). His wife Lisa found a job recently working for a freight company at night. Their plan is to use her salary for emergencies and to re-build their savings. 

I hope congress can get their act together and pass another stimulus package. The bill should include another round of stimulus checks, more PPE funds and an additional $400 for unemployment benefits. It's not that hard to figure out. 

What I personally would like to see is members of Congress have their salary stripped...and forced to live off a minimum wage workers unemployment...WITHOUT enhanced benefits. Let's see how that would work.