The Effects of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Provisions on Benefit Receipt and Employment Patterns Among Unemployed Family Caregivers

The current eligibility rules of Unemployment Insurance (UI) have disqualified many unemployed workers, particularly those shoulder family caregiving responsibilities. The federal Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (UIMA) of 2009 financially incentivized states to reform their UI provisions, including three family caregiver-friendly eligibility expansions. Yet research has not examined the UIMA’s impacts on unemployed family caregivers. This proposed research will contribute to UI literature by using a quasi-experimental design and a state UI policy dataset merging with the 2008 Survey of Income Program Participation to examine the effects of UIM provisions on benefit receipt and on the subsequent employment patterns among unemployed family caregivers