Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, emergency Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs helped keep the economy afloat and provided a critical lifeline for millions of Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Emergency UI programs, which were created under the CARES Act in March 2020, were designed to stabilize both the economy and households by replacing enough of unemployed workers’ lost income so they could continue to put food on the table, remain stably housed and pay their bills. By helping more unemployed people make ends meet, emergency UI spending supported local businesses and helped stabilize the whole economy during the worst recession since the Great Depression.

The demand for these emergency UI programs demonstrated not only the depth of the pandemic recession, but also the weaknesses of the regular UI system.

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