We examine the extent to which unemployment insurance
(UI) insures workers against unforeseen events or subsidizes firms
and workers engaged in temporary layoffs. Our main source of data
is a five-year panel of UI administrative records from five states.
While most claimants receive UI only once during this period, nearly
40% of claims go to those individuals with three or more years of
receipt during the five-year period. Most repeat recipients are
concentrated in seasonal industries and are laid off by the same
employer each time. We also find that middle-aged and high-paid
workers are more likely to be repeat recipients, suggesting that
workers in bad jobs are not the individuals who repeatedly receive
UI.
Bruce D. Meyer, Department of
Economics, Northwestern University Dan T. Rosenbaum, Doctoral candidate, Department of Economics,
Northwestern University
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