Extended Unemployment Benefits

These resources include analyses and summaries of proposals to extend unemployment benefits, documents that illustrate the need for extended benefits during economic downturns, as well as descriptions and critiques of the gaps in current extended benefit programs.

Currently, The Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program is providing up to 13 weeks of extended UI benefits to workers who exhaust their regular benefits (and up to 26 weeks in 5 high unemployment states). The program expires on December 31, 2003. Check the NELP newsroom for new analyses to improve the federal extension and www.UnemployedWorkers.org for regular program updates.

Unemployed Workers Call On President Bush To Provide Sufficient Aid to the Jobless and their Families.

Highest Unemployment States Face Major Cuts in Jobless Benefits.  Several of the states with nation's highest levels of unemployment, including Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and Michigan, may soon be denied the extra weeks of unemployment benefits they receive under the temporary federal extension.  Based on recent Labor Department figures, this analysis documents the projected loss of benefits in these states caused by the serious gaps in the federal extension program (November 2003).

House Republicans Propose No Relief for the Long Term Unemployed    The federal extension of unemployment benefits is set to expire on December 31, 2003. This analysis shows how merely extending the current law (as proposed by House Republicans) would fail the long-term unemployed, particularly in several high unemployment “loser states.” (October 2003)

Unemployment Getting Worse While Federal Jobles Benefits End December 31  This fact sheet outlines the reason that Congress should act to fix the federal extension of unemployment benefits in light of severe long-term unemployment. (October 2003)

Michigan Extends Unemployment Benefits. By signing a bill passed with widespread bipartisan support, Governor Jennifer Granholm has provided up to 13 additional weeks of federal Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) benefits to jobless workers exhausting their unemployment benefits before December 27, 2003. Similar state legislation would help thousands of workers in California, Texas and Mississippi access additional federal benefits. (August 2003)

Know Your Rights Guide to the May 2003 Federal Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Presented in a question and answer format, this update explains who qualifies for the May 2003 federal extension of unemployment benefits and which "high unemployment" states are eligible to provide 26 weeks of assistance. (June 2003)

NELP Releases New National Survey of the Unemployed - Survey Documents the Severe Financial and Family Hardships of Unemployment as Federal Aid to the Jobless is Scheduled to Expire May 31.  On May 7th, the National Employment Law Project released the results of a national survey of unemployed workers conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.  As the debate about federal jobless aid heats up, the results of this compelling survey provide new insights into the impact of the struggling economy on today's unemployed workers.  (May 2003)

Crisis of Long-Term Unemployment is Far From Over This analysis reports on the latest data exposing the breadth and depth of long-term unemployment, while calling attention to the need for a more adequate federal extension of unemployment benefits to respond proportionately to the problem. (February 2003) 

Unemployment Insurance Benefits Workers, Employers and the Struggling Economy    As documented in this analysis, $10.7 billion was pumped into local economies as a result of the federal extended benefit program in 2002. The analysis provides the state-by-state numbers and summarizes the leading research documenting the impact of the unemployment insurance program when measured against its stated goals to alleviate economic hardship and help stabilize the economy. (December 2002) 

Time to Fix the Federal Unemployment Benefits Program: Long Term Joblessness Rising Beyond the Recession calls attention to the severity of today's long-term joblessness and the need to reform the federal extended benefits law due to the significant gaps in the program. (July 2002)