Racial Inequality in Unemployment Insurance Receipt and Take-Up / Elira Kuka, Bryan A. Stuart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuka, Elira.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Stuart, Bryan A.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w29595.

NBER working paper series no. w29595

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.

Summary:

This paper studies differences in receipt and take-up of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits among white and Black individuals. We combine state-level UI regulations with data containing detailed information on individuals' work history and UI receipt. Black individuals who separate from a job are 24% less likely to receive UI than whites. The UI receipt gap stems primarily from lower take-up of UI benefits among likely eligible individuals, as opposed to differences in benefit eligibility. Statistical decompositions indicate that about one-half of the take-up gap is explained by Black workers' lower pre-unemployment earnings and higher tendency to live in the South.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2021.