Why it's so hard to get unemployment benefits

It's not the computers. It's the politicians behind them.

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Millions of Americans across the country have lost their jobs. But whether or not those people can get the unemployment benefits they deserve actually depends on where they live. In some states, more than two thirds of jobless people typically collect unemployment benefits. But in others, like Florida, fewer than one in 10 unemployed people get those benefits.

That massive difference has often been blamed on technology; Florida’s unemployment system is notoriously difficult to use. But technology doesn’t build itself. The real explanation requires a look at the ideology of the people who did.

Sources/further reading:

Ain’t No Sunshine: Fewer than One in Eight Unemployed Workers In Florida Is Receiving Unemployment Insurance (National Employment Law Project, 2015) https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Aint-No-Sunshine-Florida-Unemployment-Insurance.pdf

Long Lines for Unemployment: How Did We Get Here and What Do We Do Now? (National Employment Law Project, April 2020) https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Long-Lines-Unemployment.pdf

Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System (State of Florida Auditor General, March 2019) https://flauditor.gov/pages/pdf_files/2019-183.pdf

The Automation of State Unemployment Systems (Corporate Cost Control, 2014) https://www.corporatecostcontrol.com/2014/09/09/whats-new-the-automation-of-state-unemployment-systems/

Florida blames troubled unemployment website entirely on vendor; feds heading here to help (Tampa Bay Times, 2014) https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/feds-heading-to-florida-to-help-fix-troubled-unemployment-website/2161122/

Not all unemployed people get unemployment benefits; in some states, very few do (Pew Research Center, April 2020) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/24/not-all-unemployed-people-get-unemployment-benefits-in-some-states-very-few-do/

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