Governors Must Implement Reforms to Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment data released today for February show that over the past month, women’s unemployment rate rose even faster than men’s, the National Women’s Law Center said today. 

NWLC’s analysis of the Labor Department’s February unemployment data finds that:

• Between January 2009 and February 2009, the unemployment rate among adult women rose from 6.2 percent to 6.7 percent, a one-month increase of 8.1 percent; the unemployment rate among adult men rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, a one-month increase of 6.6 percent.

• Over the past year, the unemployment rate among adult women rose from 4.3 percent to 6.7 percent, an increase of 56 percent; the unemployment rate among adult men rose from 4.3 percent to 8.1 percent, an increase of 88 percent.  However, since September 2008, as the recession spread to female-dominated service and retail sectors, women’s unemployment has increased faster than men’s, by 36.7 percent compared to 30.6 percent.

• The unemployment rate for adult Hispanic women climbed to 10.2 percent in February, an increase of 76 percent from a year ago (unadjusted for seasonal variation).  Black women’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.9 percent, a 52 percent increase since February 2008.

• Unemployment among women who head families is at 10.3 percent, unchanged since January, but up 54 percent in the past year.

“Today’s data confirm that both women and men are losing jobs at a devastating rate. Over the past year, men’s unemployment has risen faster than women’s – but women, unfortunately, are catching up. And women – who already have lower wages than men, higher rates of poverty, and are more likely to be supporting children on their own – are especially vulnerable,” said Nancy Duff Campbell, NWLC Co-President. “It’s more important than ever that governors across the country implement reforms to unemployment insurance in order to improve the economic security of women and their families.”

Unemployment insurance (UI) provides temporary income support to workers who lose their jobs – but outdated eligibility rules disqualify a majority of workers, especially women.

However, the recently signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act takes important and historic steps to address such coverage gaps. It provides one-time grants to encourage states to enact specific reforms that will eliminate long-standing barriers to UI coverage for low-wage and part-time workers, workers who leave for compelling family reasons, and their dependents. It also provides a temporary weekly increase in UI benefits and further extends UI benefits to workers exhausting their regular benefits. 

This modernization and expansion of the UI system alleviates hardship for women and families while boosting the economy, and states should act quickly to implement such reforms in order to obtain all available funding.

“Unemployment insurance reforms are a matter of basic fairness to women. Since most states designed their unemployment insurance systems, women – especially mothers – moved into the workforce in huge numbers. Now, they represent a growing number of the unemployed. The economic recovery act offers states substantial incentives to enact reforms that will provide crucial support for women and families and boost our economy. We strongly urge governors to put aside partisan politics, and put the best interests of their constituents and their state first. We must act quickly to make sure help reaches those who are struggling now.”