About the Brief

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In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed.

The brief is a result of an extensive literature review that explores lessons on benefits extensions and UI recipiency that can inform current and future UI policy and practice. This brief discusses lessons related to benefit extensions adopted and implemented in the Great Recession, including modifications made to the Extended Benefits (EB) program and the emergency Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program.

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Key Takeaways

• UI benefit extensions were central to the program’s effectiveness in meeting the needs of both workers and the economy but also posed program administration challenges.
• UI benefit extensions played an important role in the overall macroeconomic stabilization effects of UI spending in the Great Recession.
• The EB program required a set of ad hoc adjustments to perform effectively in the Great Recession. EUC created challenges because of the program’s complexity and because it was not automatic.

Citation

Congdon, W.J., Vroman, W. (2021). Urban Institute. Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits in Recessions. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.