Unemployment Insurance—Benefit Level

Rationale

The nation's system of unemployment insurance is a unique national and state partnership. It is based on federal law but executed through state law and administration. Unemployment insurance was created to provide adequate benefits to protect workers during temporary periods of joblessness. Unemployment insurance benefits support workers and their families who are experiencing job (and therefore, income) loss, and this support can preserve existing assets and prevent the accumulation of increased debt as a result of loss of weekly income. There is broad consensus that unemployment insurance wage replacement benefits should replace 50% of lost weekly earnings over a six-month period. Presently, benefit levels are miserably low in many states, resulting in financial strain for claimants and their families. The best measure of a state's support for unemployment insurance is to compare benefit levels to the average wages in a state.

About Measure

Average weekly benefit as a percentage of the state's average wage (in 2001).

Source

U.S. Department of Labor. (2002). Unemployment insurance data summary (first quarter 2001), based on calculations by the Economic Policy Institute. Washington D.C.: Author.