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.
The report beings by briefly describing the challenge that disabled workers face in accessing UI and the benefits of reforming the system to better serve these workers. The report then presents a list of considerations for UI reform in the areas of administrative process and technology improvements as well as considerations for policy change.
This toolkit outlines actionable changes for government practitioners looking to improve the accuracy and accessibility of the questions on their forms that collect information about a user’s gender.
This article shares insights from Minnesota-based focus groups, revealing that low-income women navigating unemployment insurance often face confusion and uncertainty around eligibility, complex administrative processes, and additional challenges related to childcare, housing stability, and mistrust of benefit systems.
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.
New America’s New Practice Lab discusses insights into racial inequities within the Unemployment Insurance System, and provides recommendations its framework for rectifying inequality in policies and programs moving forward.
This webpage links to materials ASPE has prepared as it leads work on how federal agencies and programs can meaningfully and effectively engage people with lived experience.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
This resource helps individuals with aligning their work with the needs of the communities they wish to serve, while reducing the likelihood of harms and risks those communities may face due to the development and deployment of AI technologies.
This brief offers a new, anti-racist vision for transforming the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) into a program that actively pushes back against structural racism and advances racial equity and economic prosperity for all families.
This paper describes the policy choices, business practices, and technology innovations that the State of New Jersey is employing to ensure that the right people get benefits — accurately and on time.
Issued on February 2, 2023, this Executive Order provides guidance to combat discrimination and advance equal opportunity, including by redressing unfair disparities and removing barriers to government programs and services.
