Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Family Income of the Unemployed, November 17, 2010
"The unemployment insurance (UI) program provides a weekly benefit to qualified
workers who lose their job and are actively seeking work. The amount of that benefit
is based in part on a worker’s past earnings. The composition of the worker’s family
and the income of the family as a whole are not generally taken into account. Nevertheless,
the worker’s whole family is likely to be affected both by the spell of unemployment
itself and by the support that the UI benefit provides.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examined the role of UI benefits in supporting
the income of families in which at least one person was unemployed at some point
in 2009. The analysis addressed how that role varied with the amount of family
income and the number of weeks of unemployment for all family members. CBO
also examined how the poverty rate and related indicators of financial hardship would
have differed in the absence of the UI program.

The unemployment rate averaged 9.3 percent in 2009, more than double what it was
in 2007 and the highest it had been since 1983.1 In 2009, nearly one in four people
(including children) lived in a family in which at least one family member was unemployed
at some time during the year.2 Among people living in a family with income below the poverty threshold, one in three lived in a family in which at least one person was unemployed at some point..."

US Labor Department releases state-by-state figures on number of Americans who stand to lose unemployment benefits without congressional extension of program
"The U.S. Department of Labor today released state-by-state figures on the number of individuals who will lose their unemployment benefits in the coming days if Congress fails to extend unemployment insurance benefits.

If Emergency Unemployment Compensation and full federal funding for the Extended Benefit program are not extended, 400,000 Americans will lose unemployment benefits during the first weeks in March. By May, nearly 3 million people could be left without these benefits. Furthermore, if the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not extended, thousands of families will lose access to affordable health care.

If the extension is not approved, an estimated 500,000 workers who lose their jobs will be ineligible for subsidies to cover the cost of health care over this month. Over the rest of 2010, an estimated 5 million workers will be ineligible for the Recovery Act COBRA subsidy that covers 65 percent of the cost of coverage. Without this assistance, many of these families will be forced to join the ranks of the uninsured..."

Emergency Unemployment Compensation
"The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program was created by P.L. 110-252. This new temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. The program effectively begins July 6, 2008, and will terminate on March 28, 2009. No EUC benefit will be paid beyond the week ending July 4, 2009. This report will be updated to reflect congressional action or programmatic changes. Individuals should contact their state's unemployment agency to obtain information on how to apply for and receive EUC benefits. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains a website with links to each state's gency."

Broad Support for Extending Unemployment Benefits[letter of support. House Ways and Means Committee]
"A diverse set of bipartisan and nonpartisan organizations and individuals have declared their support for an immediate extension of unemployment insurance benefits, including leaders of State and local governments, economists, faith groups, advocates for working families and labor unions."