Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has published a new report on the benefits of unemployment insurance — how every dollar paid on benefits puts two dollars into the economy.
You couldn’t convince the Arkansas legislature of this. It just completed work on shortening the duration and amount of benefits to near the lowest in the country.
Nonetheless, here’s the new report.
One key bit of commentary:
It is important to remember that reducing weeks of unemployment benefits does not get people back to work faster. The effects of changes to unemployment insurance on the behavior of workers is “one of the most studied topics in empirical economics” according to the Economic Policy Institute11. The conclusion of this research is that extending benefits does not discourage people from finding jobs. And cutting benefits doesn’t help people find work faster when there aren’t jobs to be found.