How Well Insured are Job Losers? Efficacy of the Public Safety Net. / Chloe N. East, David Simon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

East, Chloe N.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Simon, David.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w28218.

NBER working paper series no. w28218

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

An extensive literature documents large and persistent declines in earnings following job loss. We study how the public safety net mitigates this using the 1996-2013 Survey of Income and Program Participation. Using an individual fixed effects model, we document which public programs provide the most insurance, and how this varies by pre-job loss characteristics. We find that Unemployment Insurance provides the largest buffer against lost income, but that the neediest are less well insured compared to middle- and higher- income job losers. This has important implications for the progressivity of the safety net, and how best to support displaced workers.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2020.