The exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers—predominantly African Americans—from the 1935 Social Security Act's unemployment insurance program is analyzed as a result of international policy diffusion rather than solely domestic racial politics.
On July 16, members of the Digital Identity Community of practice gathered to learn how peers are gathering beneficiary feedback on their experiences with accounts and proving their identity.
Led by the Digital Benefits Network in partnership with Public Policy Lab, the Digital Doorways research project amplifies the lived experiences of beneficiaries to provide new insights into people’s experiences with digital identity processes and technology in public benefits. This report details the project’s findings, directly highlighting the voices of beneficiaries through videos and photos.
This report details the use of the historic investment of $1 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the Department of Labor and state unemployment (UI) agencies to modernize state UI programs.
On May 19, 2023, the Digital Benefits Network published a new, open dataset documenting authentication and identity proofing requirements across online SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, child care (CCAP)applications, and unemployment insurance applications. This page includes data and observations about authentication and identity proofing steps specifically for online unemployment insurance applications.
In a time of crisis, behavioral science offers insights into how to reduce the paperwork and other administrative burdens that prevent people from taking advantage of crucial support services.
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and its induced recession underscored the crucial importance of unemployment insurance (UI) to workers, and to the stability of the American economy. Temporary federal expansions of unemployment systems during the pandemic showed how they can quickly be scaled to increase benefit levels and to include categories of workers who were not previously eligible, such as the self-employed, caregivers, and low-wage workers. And, states showed that separate programs can be set up to provide similar benefits to workers who are explicitly excluded from unemployment insurance—in particular immigrants who do not have a documented immigration status.
This Issue Spotlight explores the challenges that recipients of public benefits programs offering cash assistance encounter in accessing funds through financial products or services, with a specific focus on assistance provided on prepaid cards.
Through the interviews, ULP sought to capture details of claimant experience, see how and why system failures occurred, and make recommendations for reform now—before another financial or public health crisis suddenly causes state unemployment rates to spike.
This piece highlights promising design patterns for account creation and identity proofing in public benefits applications. The publication also identifies areas where additional evidence, resources, and coordinated federal guidance may help support equitable implementations of authentication and identity proofing, enabling agencies to balance access and security.
In December 2024, the Digital Benefits Network released an updated open dataset on authentication and identity proofing requirements across various public benefits applications to highlight best practices and areas for improvement in identity management.
