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The paper examines the effect of increasing the size of unemployment insurance (UI) transfers on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the U.S. from April 5 to May 2, 2020. As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed on March 27th, 2020, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program increased UI payments by $600 per week (Courtney, 2020). It took states different amounts of time to comply with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and program the payment increases into the system, which allowed the researchers to estimate the effect of implementing FPUC on IPV using a difference-in-differences (DID) research design and modern estimation techniques.

Research Questions

• What is the estimated effect of the FPUC program on police reports of IPV in the U.S. from April 5 to May 2, 2020?

Key Takeaways

• After implementing FPUC, there was increased reported intimate partner violence offenses against women by 11%, driven by increases in aggravated assaults and sexual assaults. This is consistent with prior evidence on changes in government transfers and intimate partner violence.
• Researchers did not detect an effect among black women, but the effect is significant for other racial categories.
• Researchers found an 11% decrease in reports of intimate partner violence against men, but this is driven by reductions in less serious offenses such as simple assault and intimidation, while researchers found increases in greater offenses such as aggravated assault and sexual assault.

Citation

Hsu, L., Henke, A. (2022). Do Increased Unemployment Insurance Payments Increase Violence Against Women? Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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This study was part of CEO’s Summer Data Challenge on Equity and Underserved Communities, and was produced outside of CEO’s standard research development process.