The U.S. Unemployment System Is Broken But Fixable
Bigger checks are good but not enough for the millions of unemployed Americans who need more help.
Too many Americans are not getting enough help.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Now that Congress is on the cusp of boosting direct payments to $2,000 for all but high-income Americans to help them through the pandemic, lawmakers should focus on shoring up and fixing the system of unemployment insurance.
The goal of unemployment insurance, which was created in 1935 along with Social Security and other safety net programs, was to provide “security against the hazards and vicissitudes of life,” according to then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But current jobless benefits—even with extra weeks of benefits and expanded eligibility in the $2 trillion Cares Act— do not reach all of those that need it the most.