Protecting people, rather than specific jobs, plays a key role in promoting labour-market inclusiveness and dynamism. Effective unemployment benefits reduce inequality, and facilitate a good match between workers’ skills and job requirements. They are a crucial policy lever for adapting to the major societal, technological and environmental transitions of our time. This report on the United States is the second of a number of OECD country reviews of income support policies. Each report analyses key policy challenges, discusses recent reform initiatives, and identifies good practices from other OECD countries.

The report examines the reach and generosity of unemployment insurance and other income support for working age households, with a special focus on disadvantaged labour market groups. What are key gaps in benefit receipt between wage- and salaried employees and non-standard workers (part-time workers, those on temporary contracts, and self-employed workers including own-account workers)? What factors, including race/ethnicity and gender, drive non-entitlement to unemployment compensation? The report examines these questions, considers the impact of recent extensions to the unemployment insurance programme in response to the COVID pandemic, and outlines policy directions for strengthening out-of-work support.