I'd have given employers the benefit of the doubt re: unemployment benefits being high a year ago, but since last August, unemployment stipends decreased dramatically.

I was getting the $600 weekly, and it was amazing, but ultimately it made me realize that, as a restaurant worker, I simply wasn't making enough for the time I was putting in.

But you're right, the health aspect is a huge part of this, too. Especially in restaurant work where you are handling people's half-eaten food and drinks, where people weren't wearing masks and sitting at a bar flinging spittle into your face.