Unemployment insurance (UI) is a federal-state system and mandatory AJC partner. UI benefits are available to workers who have involuntarily lost their jobs and have demonstrated a required level of labor force attachment. UI provides weekly cash payments to replace a portion of eligible workers earnings, up to a statewide maximum. Eligibility and benefit levels vary by state, though most states offer up to 26 weeks of state-financed UI benefits through each states Unemployment Compensation (UC) program. Certain economic conditions may extend the duration of UI benefits through the permanent Extended Benefit (EB) program.

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system is a lasting piece of the Social Security Act which was enacted in 1935. But like most things that are over 80 years old, it occasionally needs maintenance to keep it operating smoothly while keeping up with the changing demands placed upon it. However, the UI system has been ignored by policymakers for decades and, say the authors, it is broken, out of date, and badly in need of repair. Stephen A. Wandner pulls together a group of UI researchers, each with decades of experience, who describe the weaknesses in the current system and propose policy reforms that they say would modernize the system and prepare us for the next recession.