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Financing Unemployment Insurance

Author

Listed:
  • Wayne Vroman
  • Stephen A. Woodbury
Abstract
Following the Great Recession, the unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds in most states became insolvent, requiring the states to borrow from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to finance benefit payments. This article describes the basics of UI financing and reviews the origins of the financial crisis facing the federal-state UI system. It then examines the main components of the UI payroll tax — the taxable wage base and the experience-rated payroll tax — and considers how these might be modified to avoid future widespread insolvency. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the future of UI financing.

Suggested Citation

  • Wayne Vroman & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2014. "Financing Unemployment Insurance," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(1), pages 253-268, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:67:y:2014:i:1:p:253-268
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2014.1.08
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Topel, Robert H, 1984. "Experience Rating of Unemployment Insurance and the Incidence of Unemployment," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 61-90, April.
    2. Card, David & Levine, Phillip B., 1994. "Unemployment insurance taxes and the cyclical and seasonal properties of unemployment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-29, January.
    3. Saul J. Blaustein, 1993. "Unemployment Insurance in the United States: The First Half Century," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number uius.
    4. Christopher J. O'Leary & Robert Tannenwald, 1997. "Unemployment insurance policy in New England: background and issues," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 3-22.
    5. Patricia M. Anderson & Bruce D. Meyer, 1993. "The Unemployment Insurance Payroll Tax and Interindustry and Interfirm Subsidies," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 7, pages 111-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Deere, Donald R, 1991. "Unemployment Insurance and Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 307-324, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wei Cheng & Patrick Carlin & Joanna Carroll & Sumedha Gupta & Felipe Lozano Rojas & Laura Montenovo & Thuy D. Nguyen & Ian M. Schmutte & Olga Scrivner & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing & Bruce Weinberg, 2020. "Back to Business and (Re)employing Workers? Labor Market Activity During State COVID-19 Reopenings," NBER Working Papers 27419, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Mathias Dolls & Clemens Fuest & Dirk Neumann & Andreas Peichl, 2018. "An unemployment insurance scheme for the euro area? A comparison of different alternatives using microdata," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 273-309, February.
    3. Fischer, Georg, 2017. "The US Unemployment Insurance, a Federal-State Partnership: Relevance for Reflections at the European Level," IZA Policy Papers 129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Robert A. Moffitt & James P. Ziliak, 2020. "COVID‐19 and the US Safety Net," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 515-548, September.
    5. Rainer Eppel & Thomas Horvath & Helmut Mahringer, 2018. "Das Aussetzen von Beschäftigungsverhältnissen als betriebliche Strategie zum Ausgleich von Schwankungen des Personalbedarfs. Ein Update," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 91(11), pages 799-810, November.
    6. Christopher J. O'Leary & Kenneth J. Kline, 2020. "State Unemployment Insurance Reserves Are Not Adequate," Upjohn Working Papers 20-321, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    7. Nathaniel Hilger, 2017. "All Together Now: Leveraging Firms to Increase Worker Productivity Growth," NBER Working Papers 23905, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Tracy Gordon & Lucy Dadayan & Kim Rueben, 2020. "State and Local Government Finances in the COVID-19 Era," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(3), pages 733-758, September.
    9. Christopher J. O'Leary & Stephen A. Wandner, 2020. "An Illustrated Case for Unemployment Insurance Reform," Upjohn Working Papers 19-317, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. Christopher J. O’Leary & Burt S. Barnow & Karolien Lenaerts, 2020. "Lessons from the American federal‐state unemployment insurance system for a European unemployment benefits system," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 3-34, January.
    11. Christopher J. O'Leary & Kenneth J. Kline, 2016. "Are State Unemployment Insurance Reserves Sufficient for the Next Recession?," Upjohn Working Papers 16-257, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    12. Stephen A. Woodbury & Murray Rubin, 1997. "The Duration of Benefits," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Christopher J. O'Leary & Stephen A. Wandner (ed.), Unemployment Insurance in the United States: Analysis of Policy Issues, chapter 6, pages 211-283, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    13. Marta Lachowska & Wayne Vroman & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2020. "Experience Rating and the Dynamics of Financing Unemployment Insurance," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(3), pages 673-698, September.
    14. Predelus, Wilner & Amine, Samir, 2020. "How employment insurance recipients make decision about insolvency?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 344-348.
    15. Edwards Kathryn Anne, 2020. "Who helps the unemployed? Workers’ receipt of public and private transfers," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-26, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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