Millions of people who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus are having trouble getting the unemployment benefits they are entitled to receive.
About 26 million people have applied for unemployment since the beginning of the outbreak, but an unknown number have been unable to do so due to overwhelmed reporting systems and outdated technology at the state level. And some workers who have managed to make a claim are still waiting to receive their benefits as states struggle with the unprecedented volume of people seeking assistance.
Some people can’t get through: According to survey data released Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute, for every 10 people who filed for unemployment benefits from mid-March to mid-April, three to four were unable to get through to their state systems, and another two didn’t try because they thought it was too difficult to do so. The survey results suggest that in addition to the 21.5 million people who filed for benefits during the four-week period from March 22 to April 18, another 7.8 to 12.2 million people would have applied had they been able to do so.
“These findings imply the official count of unemployment insurance claims likely drastically understates the extent of employment reductions and the need for economic relief during the coronavirus crisis,” the study’s authors wrote.
State systems are breaking down: Some states can’t handle to sheer number of benefit applications they are receiving, as old technology, understaffing and years of insufficient investment take their toll. One result is that applicants are kept waiting for states to determine their eligibility to receive benefits. According to an analysis by CQ Roll Call, based on four weeks of applications through April 11, the hard-hit states of Florida, Ohio, Georgia and New Jersey have failed to process hundreds of thousands of applications (see the chart below).
The reasons for the failures are complex and include a confusing gap between state-level rules and new federal guidelines that enable a wider range of workers to receive benefits – a distinction that requires some applicants to reapply for the federal program after being rejected for the state one.
“The feds ... put guidance out that said you have to apply for unemployment insurance, get rejected, and then apply for pandemic unemployment insurance, which was a complete disaster,” Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said last week.
Lots of frustration: The crisis is moving so fast that it can be hard to nail down solid numbers, but stories about frustrated people struggling with the unemployment system are not hard to come by. Jim Hewes, who lost his job in Orlando in March, told Reuters that it took him more than two weeks file a benefit claim online and he is still waiting to hear about the paper form he mailed in April. “It’s a shame how you work for so many years and then when you need it, you can’t get it,” Hewes said. “It’s almost set up to fail.”