Should Congress Extend Federal Unemployment Benefits? >
Unemployment Insurance Is Financial Life Support for Millions
Future economic growth is in serious jeopardy without it
December 9, 2011
About Howard Rosen:
Howard Rosen is a resident visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, where he is developing detailed proposals for reforming U.S. labor-market adjustment programs.
Now is not the time to reduce Unemployment Insurance:
- Only 58.2 percent of the working-age population is employed, down from 63.3 percent just four years ago.
- 14 million workers are seeking employment.
- Basic UI provides only 26 weeks of assistance. Currently 43 percent of the unemployed have been without work for more than 27 weeks.
- The combination of slow job growth and the large number of people seeking employment has caused many workers to stop looking for work, thereby seriously jeopardizing future economic growth.
The economy faces the dual challenge of maintaining people's connection to the labor force while creating enough jobs to employ them.
[Unemployment Drops--Does Obama Deserve the Credit?]
Currently, only 56 percent of the officially unemployed receive any assistance and for half of them, their UI runs out before they find new jobs. The average benefit across the nation is $296 per week, below the poverty threshold and hardly enough to dissuade workers from seeking employment. Seven states provide up to an additional 67 weeks of UI and 27 states provide up to an additional 73 weeks of UI.
UI is definitely no replacement for a job, but it is a financial life-support system for millions of American workers. We clearly must do everything we can to create more jobs, but now is not the time to reduce UI.
- Debate Club: Should the payroll tax cuts be extended?
- If the Economy Added 120,000 Jobs Last Month, How Many Is That Really?
- Does Extending Jobless Benefits Help the Economy?
- Other Arguments
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#112773
No — Unemployment benefits reduce incentive for people to find work
CHRIS EDWARDS, Economist at the Cato Institute
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#36938
Yes — Additional benefit checks do little to ease unemployment because system is broken
GEOFF DAVIS, U.S. Representative, Kentucky's 4th District
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#49266
No — Extended benefits keep some workers searching for jobs they will not find
JAMES SHERK, Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics at the Heritage Foundation
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#46438
Yes — Preventing unemployment benefits from expiring could prevent the loss of more than 500,000 jobs
SANDER LEVIN, U.S. Representative, Michigan’s 12th District
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#67784
Yes — Enrollment in UI programs keeps workers in the labor market
CARL E. VAN HORN, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University
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#76991
Yes — Over 6 million could see benefits terminated by end of 2012
LLOYD DOGGETT, U.S. Representative, Texas’ 25th District
