unemployment insurance

Examples of unemployment insurance in the following topics:

• Social Insurance

  • In the United States, Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance are among the most well-known forms of social insurance.
  • Unemployment insurance provides a monetary benefit to workers who have become unemployed through no fault of their own.
  • FUTA covers the costs of administering the Unemployment Insurance and Job Service programs in all states.
  • In addition, FUTA pays one-half of the cost of extended unemployment benefits (during periods of high unemployment) and provides for a fund from which states may borrow, if necessary, to pay benefits.
  • Social Security is one of the best-known social insurance programs in the United States.

• Income Security Policy and Policy Making

  • That a compulsory government program, not the private market, provides unemployment insurance can be explained using the concepts of adverse selection and moral hazard.
  • Adverse selection refers to the fact that "workers who have the highest probability of becoming unemployed have the highest demand for unemployment insurance."
  • Adverse selection causes profit maximizing private insurance agencies to set high premiums for the insurance because there is a high likelihood they will have to make payments to the policyholder.
  • High premiums exclude many individuals who otherwise might purchase the insurance.
  • "At the same time, those workers who managed to obtain insurance might experience more unemployment other than what would have been the case."

• Pensions and Unemployment Insurance

  • Another federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, insures retiree benefits under traditional private pensions; a series of laws enacted in the 1980s and 1990s boosted premium payments for this insurance and stiffened requirements holding employers responsible for keeping their plans financially healthy.
  • Unlike Social Security, unemployment insurance, also established by the Social Security Act of 1935, is organized as a federal-state system and provides basic income support for unemployed workers.
  • The amount and duration of the weekly unemployment benefits are based on a worker's prior wages and length of employment.
  • The federal government also assesses an unemployment insurance tax of its own on employers.
  • States must lengthen the duration of benefits when unemployment rises and remains above a set "trigger" level.

• Impact of Public Policy on Unemployment

  • Most governments strive to achieve low levels of unemployment.
  • However, the types of policies differ depending on what type of unemployment they address.
  • Governments can enact policies to try to reduce frictional unemployment.
  • Many governments offer unemployment insurance to both alleviate the short-term hardship faced by the unemployed and to allow workers more time to search for a job.
  • Review the importance of unemployment benefits in the American social welfare program

• Measuring Unemployment

  • The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment.
  • Social Insurance Statistics, such as unemployment benefits, are computed base on the number of persons insured representing the total labor force and the number of persons who are insured that are collecting benefits.
  • This survey measures only civilian nonagricultural employment; thus, it does not calculate an unemployment rate, and it differs from the ILO unemployment rate definition.
  • Additional data are also available from the government, such as the unemployment insurance weekly claims report available from the Office of Workforce Security, within the U.S.
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics also calculates six alternate measures of unemployment, U1 through U6 (as diagramed in ), that measure different aspects of unemployment:

• Defining Unemployment

  • It differs from frictional unemployment because it lasts longer.
  • Hidden: the unemployment of potential workers that is not taken into account in official unemployment statistics because of how the data is collected.
  • The final measurement is called the rate of unemployment .
  • The effects of unemployment can be broken down into three types:
  • Individuals receive unemployment benefits including insurance, compensation, welfare, and subsidies to aid in retraining.

• Measuring the Unemployment Rate

  • The unemployment rate is measured using two different labor force surveys.
  • The survey measures the unemployment rate based on the ILO definition.
  • The unemployment rate is also calculated using weekly claims reports for unemployed insurance.
  • The unemployment rate is updated on a monthly basis.
  • They calculate different aspects of unemployment.

• Continuing Hardships

  • In 1937 the economy went into a recession, causing unemployment to grow and productivity to drop again.
  • Unemployment remained high, but it was slightly lower than the 25% rate seen in 1933.
  • Unemployment jumped from 14.3% in 1937 to 19.0% in 1938.
  • In February 1938, Congress passed a new AAA bill which authorized crop loans, crop insurance against natural disasters, and large subsidies to farmers who cut back production.
  • " Indeed, the unemployment rate for 1939 was higher than the unemployment rate for 1931, but lower than in 1932.

• Regulatory Oversight

  • For instance, deposit insurance in the United States insures up to $250,000 for each person.
  • Other countries do not have generous deposit insurance.
  • Furthermore, governments have two problems coordinating international deposit insurance.
  • As the unemployment rate soared, businesses lay off many people, and the unemployed could not find jobs.
  • Many countries including Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, and the United States are afflicted with an unemployment crisis because the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, and the unemployed cannot find work.

• Disposable Income

  • For the purposes of calculating the amount of income subject to garnishment, United States federal law defines disposable income as an individual's compensation (including salary, overtime, bonuses, commission, and paid leave) after the deduction of health insurance premiums and any amounts required to be deducted by law.
  • Amounts required to be deducted by law include federal, state, and local taxes, state unemployment and disability taxes, social security taxes, and other garnishments or levies, but does not include such deductions as voluntary retirement contributions and transportation deductions.
  • It is total personal income after subtracting taxes and typical expenses (such as rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, medical fees, transportation, property maintenance, child support, food and sundries, etc.) needed to maintain a certain standard of living.