During the COVID-19 recession, 22 million laid-off workers sought unemployment benefits, sparking chaos in the payment system and compounding the financial woes of jobless Americans.
Five years later, with many forecasters predicting another downturn is likely in 2025, a far less burdened benefits system remains plagued by myriad problems that could hamper payments to Americans who lose their jobs in an economic slump, according to a new report.
I’m alarmed. The unemployment insurance system is really falling far short in its function of supporting unemployed workers.
Nearly 1 in 5 unemployment insurance recipients say their benefits were inadequate, with a third complaining they’ve struggled with food insecurity despite the payments, according to a survey and study by the National Employment Law Project.
Large shares of beneficiaries also lament delayed payments, jammed phone lines, hard-to-navigate websites and incorrectly denied benefits, among other issues, according to the survey, which was conducted in partnership with online polling firm YouGov in September.
The firms surveyed 1,480 workers who were unemployed at some point from 2019 to 2024 and the results were provided exclusively to USA TODAY.
“I’m alarmed,” said Amy Traub, senior researcher and policy analyst for NELP and a co-author of the study. “The unemployment insurance system is really falling far short in its function of supporting unemployed workers.”
The gaps exist even though Congress provided $1 billion in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 to shore up jobless benefits. Traub said the money did foster more timely payments and website improvements but there are still shortcomings in those and other areas.
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“During the next recession, if we have large numbers of workers who lose their jobs, we want to be sure they’re not going hungry or losing their homes,” [Traub] said.
A big reason many recipients can’t cover such necessities is the wide disparities among states in their benefit disbursements, Traub said.
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Read the full story at usatoday.com.
