how to solve the problem of unemployment essay

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Unemployment Problem And Solution (Essay Sample) 2023

Unemployment problem and solution.

Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Unemployment — Unemployment: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Unemployment: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

• Categories: Unemployment

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Words: 685 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 685 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, causes of unemployment, effects of unemployment, solutions to combat unemployment, a. economic factors.

• Global recession: During economic downturns, companies may reduce employment to cut costs and remain competitive.
• Automation and technological advancements: The use of machines and technology may replace human workers in some industries, leading to job losses.
• Outsourcing of jobs: Companies may choose to outsource jobs to other countries where labor costs are lower, leaving domestic workers unemployed.

B. Societal Factors

• Lack of education and skills: Individuals without proper education and job training may be ill-equipped to meet the demands of a constantly evolving job market.
• Discrimination in hiring processes: Certain groups, such as women, minorities, and older workers, may face barriers in securing employment due to discrimination.
• Dependency on welfare programs: Some individuals may choose to remain on welfare programs due to a lack of incentive to enter the workforce or because they cannot find suitable employment.

A. Economic Effects

• Reduction in consumer spending: Without a steady income, unemployed individuals may have less money to spend, resulting in a decline in consumer spending.
• Decline in government revenue: With fewer people working, the government may see a decline in tax revenue, which can impact its ability to provide necessary services and promote economic growth.
• Increase in social welfare expenses: The government may need to allocate more funds toward social welfare programs, such as unemployment benefits and food assistance, to support those who are unemployed.

B. Social Effects

• Increase in crime rates: Individuals who are unemployed may resort to criminal activities to make ends meet, leading to a rise in crime rates.
• Mental health issues: Unemployment can cause stress, anxiety, and depression, which can negatively impact an individual's mental health.
• Strained relationships and family instability: Unemployment may cause financial strain and tension within families, leading to relationship problems and instability.

A. Economic Solutions

• Encouraging entrepreneurship and small business development: Providing resources and support for individuals to start their own businesses can lead to job creation and economic growth.
• Promoting vocational training and skill development programs: Ensuring that individuals have access to education and training programs can increase their job readiness and competitiveness in the job market.
• Implementing balanced trade policies: Creating policies that promote fair trade and reduce job outsourcing can protect domestic jobs and promote job growth.

B. Social Solutions

• Addressing educational disparities and providing access to quality education: Providing quality education to disadvantaged communities can improve their job readiness and reduce unemployment rates.
• Combating discrimination in the workplace: Enforcing anti-discrimination laws and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace can reduce barriers to employment for certain groups.
• Strengthening social safety net programs: Ensuring that social welfare programs are designed to incentivize work and provide support to those in need can promote economic stability and reduce poverty.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021, October 8). Employment Situation Summary. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

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• US & World Economies
• Unemployment

Unemployment Solutions and What's Most Cost-Effective

The Best Way To Solve High Unemployment

Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest.

Monetary Policy

Fiscal policy, the most cost-effective solution, fiscal policy risks, the bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

The solution for unemployment is, of course, to create new jobs. The number of jobs that need to be created depends on the unemployment rate and the number of people entering the labor force in search of work. When unemployment creeps above 6% to 7% and stays there, it means the economy can't create enough new jobs. That's when the government steps in.  

For historical data on U.S. unemployment trends, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the  unemployment rate by year .   It reports the annual percentage of the unemployed in the labor force, as far back as 1949. It also indicates the success or failure of the fiscal and monetary policies through the years, since they affect the rate of unemployment. 

The first solution is  expansionary monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. It's powerful, quick, and effective. Lower interest rates make it easier for families to borrow what they need. That includes expensive items like cars, homes, and consumer electronics. It stimulates enough demand to put the economy back on track. Low-interest rates also allow businesses to borrow for less. That gives them the financial capital to hire enough workers to meet rising demand.  

If the recession is really severe, then monetary policy might not be enough on its own. That's when fiscal policy is needed. The government can either cut taxes or increase spending to stimulate the economy. An expansionary fiscal policy  is slower than monetary policy to get started. It takes time for Congress and the president to agree on the next steps, but it can be more effective once executed. It also provides much-needed confidence that the government will turn things around. Confidence is crucial for convincing people to spend now for a better future.

Cutting taxes works like lowering interest rates. Both give businesses and consumers more money to spend. That increases demand. It gives businesses more cash to invest and hire more workers. 

Government spending can also take the form of jobs programs. The government can hire employees directly. It also contracts with companies to build things and provide services. It provides consumers with the cash they need to buy more products.

Dollar for dollar, what's the best investment that creates the most jobs? A University of Massachusetts Amherst study found that  building mass transit  is the most cost-effective solution. One billion dollars spent on public transportation creates 19,795 construction jobs.

Unemployment benefits can provide growth as well. According to Wayne Vroman, an economist and senior fellow at the Urban Institute for the Department of Labor, unemployment insurance led to the creation of 1.6 million jobs on average each quarter from 2008 to 2010. The unemployed are most likely to spend every dime they get. They buy basics like groceries, clothing, and housing. As a result, every dollar spent on unemployment benefits stimulates $1.64 in gross domestic product.

How can $1 create $1.64? It does it through the ripple effect. For example, a dollar spent at the grocery store pays for the food. It also helps pay the clerk's salary, the truckers who haul the food, and even the farmers who grow it. The clerks, truckers, and farmers then buy groceries. This ripple effect keeps demand strong, creating added benefits. Stores keep their employees to supply the goods and services the unemployed need. Without these benefits, demand would drop. Then retailers would need to lay off their workers, increasing unemployment rates. 

Unemployment benefits work fast. The government writes a check that goes directly into the economy. Public works projects take longer to get implemented. The plans must be updated, workers hired, and supplies delivered. 

Funding education is also an effective unemployment solution. One billion dollars spent hiring teachers adds $1.3 billion to the economy. Better-educated people can get higher-paying jobs. They can buy more things with the higher wages they earn. Each $1 billion spent can create 17,687 jobs. That's much better than defense spending . It only creates 8,555 jobs for the same investment. Defense is more capital-intensive. Modern defense relies more on drones, F-35s, and aircraft carriers than soldiers.

The most popular fiscal stimulus is across-the-board  income tax cuts . That's not the most cost-effective, according to the UMass/Amherst study. One billion dollars in cuts creates 10,779 jobs. Workers only spend half the money, which in this case is only $505 million. 

As a result, reductions in the tax rate are not the most effective way to help job growth. Most people don't realize they are getting a break until tax time. The tax cut means they pay less in taxes, but they still have to pay. Psychologically, they are less likely to spend anything extra. It just doesn't feel like a bonus. As a result, people are more liable to save anything they get or use it to pay down other debts.  

A more effective tax cut is in businesses' payroll taxes. The best place to give business tax relief is with small businesses. From 2000 to 2018, they produced 65% of all net new jobs created.  

The downside of fiscal policy is that it could add to the budget deficit. That creates more government debt. As debt approaches 100% of the economy's total output, it slows economic growth. Investors could lose the desire for that government's debt. This makes interest rates rise, increasing the cost of borrowing.

Advocates of  supply-side economics  say that, over time, tax cuts boost the economy enough to replace any lost tax revenue, but according to the Laffer Curve, that's only true if taxes are over a certain threshold to start with.  

The government uses two policies to tackle unemployment: monetary and fiscal.

Expansionary monetary policy increases the money supply and:

• Has more immediate effects
• Stimulates demand, production; and ultimately, employment
• Is managed by the Federal Reserve or a central bank

Expansionary fiscal policies include government spending and tax cuts. These:

• Take more time to have an impact
• Have a greater impact on consumerism, so they are more effective as economic stimuli
• Increase government debt and add to the budget deficit

The most cost-effective solutions are fiscal. Building mass transit, granting unemployment benefits, funding the educational sector, and payroll tax cuts allow consumers to gain more income which they spend to spur demand.  

How does a high unemployment rate affect the economy?

High unemployment can have detrimental effects throughout the economy. When fewer workers are working, it reduces production and GDP. Unemployed workers drain resources from state and federal governments while tax revenues are simultaneously cut. Persistent unemployment can have serious societal effects, as well. A study conducted during the Great Recession showed how extended unemployment can hurt workers' long-term earning potential, which can affect the economy for years to come.

What is the natural rate of unemployment?

The natural rate of employment is an estimate of how low unemployment would go when inflation is stable and economic production is steady. It's difficult to estimate with precision, but economists suggest that it usually hovers around 4.5% to 5.5%. In other words, when the economy is stable and growing neither too quickly nor too slowly, natural unemployment will usually fall somewhere within that range.

Stanford University. " Why Has the Unemployment Rate Fared Better Than GDP Growth? "

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. " Labor Force Statistics From the Current Population Survey ."

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. " How Does Monetary Policy Influence Inflation and Employment? "

International Monetary Fund. " Fiscal Policy: Giving and Taking Away ."

National Archives. " Estimates of Job Creation From the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ."

Carnegie Mellon University. " The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Solely a Government Jobs Program? "

University of Massachusetts Amherst. " The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities ," Page 6.

Center for American Progress. " Unemployment Insurance Dollars Create Millions of Jobs ."

Economy.com. " Washington Throws the Economy a Rope ."

Congressional Budget Office. " Economic Stimulus: Evaluating Proposed Changes in Tax Policy ," Page 5.

Congressional Budget Office. " The Fiscal Multiplier and Economic Policy Analysis in the United States ," Page 5.

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Frequently Asked Questions ," Page 1.

Bank for International Settlements. " The Real Effects of Debt ," Page 1.

University of California, Berkeley. " How Far Are We From the Slippery Slope? The Laffer Curve Revisited ."

Economic Policy Institute. " Sustained, High Joblessness Causes Lasting Damage to Wages, Benefits, Income, and Wealth ."

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. " The Natural Rate of Unemployment over the Past 100 Years ."

• 7 Causes of Unemployment 2 of 16

Unemployment during the pandemic: How to avoid going for broke

Key takeaways.

• Without significant policy changes, employers will be hit with hefty tax increases to pay for mounting unemployment insurance (UI) claims.
• Thinning tax bases make financing UI more challenging.
• Having state UI trust funds in the red may make it much harder for job markets to recover.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in late February, tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Anxiety among many employers and consumers is still high — suggesting little hope of a rapid recovery.

This leaves state and local governments with gaping budget shortfalls amid falling income and sales tax revenues while demand for public services rises. A particularly fast-growing area of state expenditure is the payment of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.

There has been extensive discussion among policymakers and the media regarding the trade-offs of more generous or longer-lasting UI benefits, such as the federal government’s provision of an additional $600 per week that expired July 31. But there has been very little talk about the tax hikes they will incur.

Many states have depleted their UI trust funds in the current crisis and have started to borrow from the federal government to pay their residents’ UI benefits. In the absence of additional policy changes, employers will be hit with significant UI tax increases over the next few years. And that will likely prevent some of the jobs that were lost from coming back.

In this policy brief, we explain how state unemployment insurance programs are financed and the threats to their solvency. We also discuss two reforms: one to relieve employers faced with crippling payroll tax increases in the coming years, and another to ensure that state UI trusts have enough money for future payouts.

Understanding unemployment insurance

Unemployment insurance is one of the largest social insurance programs in the United States, with each state running its own UI program to pay benefits to people laid off from their jobs. In most states, UI replaces about half of a worker’s earnings up to a weekly benefit maximum ($443 in the median state) for a maximum of 26 weeks (6 months).

While providing a needed cushion to workers, UI leaves policymakers with a difficult balancing act. As benefits become more generous, many recipients reduce their efforts to find and maintain jobs, reducing total income and burdening other workers (Johnston and Mas 2018). But if benefits become stingier, the cushion provides less support leaving some unemployed vulnerable to fall behind on their bills or lose their housing (Ganong and Noel 2019). [1]

Benefits are generally paid to people with relatively low saving rates, so the money that is distributed is quickly spent, providing short-term stimulus for consumer goods. This leads economists to refer to UI as an “automatic stabilizer.” Without the need for additional legislation, states  automatically  spend more money on unemployment benefits when economic conditions deteriorate, and spending naturally retracts as the economy recovers.

During the strong labor market leading up to the pandemic, just 220,000 workers filed new UI claims in the typical week. In late February, the unemployment rate was at 3.5 percent — a 60-year low — ­and about 1.7 million Americans were receiving UI benefits.

But two months later, the pandemic’s sudden and massive shock to the economy vaulted the U.S. unemployment rate to 14.7 percent — an 80-year-high. This April, rates varied substantially across states, from a high of 28.2 percent in Nevada to a low of 8.3 percent in Nebraska.

During the last week of March, 6.9 million Americans filed new claims for UI benefits. As demonstrated in Figure 1, this was  10 times higher  than the corresponding peak in new UI claims during the depths of the Great Recession more than a decade ago. By early May of this year, more than 25 million Americans were receiving UI payments and in every week since early March, new UI claims have exceeded the Great Recession peak of 660,000.

Figure 1: Weekly Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims (Thousands)

From March through the end of July, the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act increased unemployment benefits for each recipient by $600 per week. That meant the average UI recipient was paid one-third  more  in unemployment than she earned while working (Ganong et al. 2020).

This raised concerns that workers had little incentive to return to work or find a new job, a condition necessary for labor market restructuring and recovery. [2]  This additional UI funding expired at the end of July after lawmakers were unable to agree on another round of federal spending. President Trump attempted to provide a $300-dollar weekly “top-up” by executive order (with states given the option to provide an additional $100). Whether and when that happens is unclear given that states have to apply for the funding. [3]

UI benefits are financed by a payroll tax on employers. Unlike other taxes, UI tax rates are “experience-rated,” which means that an employer’s future tax rate rises if its employees claim UI benefits, and its tax rate falls when the firm avoids layoffs. This gives employers a strong incentive to balance the demand for layoffs with the cost that they impose on the UI system.

One consequence of experience-rating UI taxes is that tax rates increase as the economy begins to recover from recession. This significantly raises the cost of hiring new workers or retaining old ones, likely weighing down recovery of the labor market.

As shown in Figure 2, the average UI tax rate increased by more than 50 percent from 2009 to 2012 as the recovery was haltingly underway.  This increase was especially high in middle-class industries — like construction and manufacturing — that were hit hardest during the Great Recession.  As this same figure shows, average tax rates were more than 2.5 times as high among employers in construction as among all employers in the years following the three most recent recessions.

Figure 2: Average UI Tax Rate on Total Wages (1990-2018)

Surviving firms have to cover the UI costs generated by the employers that went out of business — causing them to be doubly burdened. Given the much larger increase in UI claims during the current recession relative to previous ones and the likely greater rate of firm exit, the increase in UI taxes could be substantially higher over the next few years than in the years following the Great Recession. This will encourage outsourcing and automation, induce some firms to shut down, and impede employment.

Softening the blow to businesses

Unless employment recovers with impressive speed, each claim will draw an average of $7,000 in payments from state UI trust funds. Those payments will transform into an estimated $270 billion dollars in payroll tax increases on firms over the next few years, reducing the ability of firms to resume normal hiring and employment and further stalling a labor market comeback. [4]

In March and April of this year, 20 states suspended experience rating to shield their employers from an avalanche of additional UI taxes in the upcoming years. These states span the political spectrum as well as geography, including Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. [5]

While this policy change will — all else equal — hasten the labor market recovery in these states, it may also lead to a substantial increase in layoffs since it removes firms’ financial incentives to retain workers. Consistent with this, a comparison of five states that suspended experience rating with five neighboring states that did not reveals that layoff rates (defined as new UI claims divided by the workforce) were 30 percent higher in the five that shut down experience rating. [6]

States are therefore in a bind. By maintaining experience rating, a wave of future tax increases may hamper the economic recovery and prolong unemployment. But suspending experience rating may induce additional layoffs today, when things are most dire.

To soften the blow over the next few years while maintaining the incentives for employers to retain their workforce, states could adjust each company’s UI costs so that they are temporarily evaluated based on conditions in their industry — reducing the scope for tax increases that were out of the firm’s control.

For the next few years, employers would essentially be graded on a curve, comparing their layoff history with industry peers rather than a non-existent perfect firm. For example, since restaurants have been hit especially hard during the pandemic while the average technology firm has thrived, a restaurant that laid off 10 percent of its workers would face a smaller tax increase than a computer software company that did the same.  Employers would have essentially equal incentives to maintain their workforce, but would not face crushing tax increases if they happen to be in an industry that was differentially hit by the COVID pandemic and the resulting lockdowns.

The benefits of such a policy could be substantial. Research suggests that employment is highly sensitive to UI tax increases in part because they hit firms that are already on the proverbial ropes. Anderson and Meyer (1997) find that a 1 percent increase in costs from UI taxes reduces employment by 2 percent. More recent research by Johnston (2020) finds even larger effects.

Shoring up the trust funds

The pandemic has shed light on the vulnerability of UI financing. Better maintenance of UI trust funds is vital to prepare states for the next economic downturn and improve prospects for future recoveries.

There is a large and growing gap in UI tax costs across jurisdictions. States like California and Florida have a low maximum tax rate and an annual tax base of around $7,000 — the lowest allowed by federal law — resulting in maximum potential UI taxes of about $400 per worker. In contrast, states like Washington and Oregon maintain large tax bases ($52,700 and $42,100, respectively) resulting in potential UI taxes of more than $2,000 per worker. [7]

In good times, states store revenues from UI taxes in a trust fund and that fund is drawn down in the depth of recessions. In recent years, however, state trust funds have been low even in good times — a function of benefits that are more generous than their financing (von Wachter 2016). The Department of Labor’s 2020 Solvency Report shows that despite a 10-year economic expansion, 21 state UI trust funds were below the minimum recommended reserve, just prior to the pandemic (U.S. Department of Labor 2020). [8]  As of August 2020, 11 states have already depleted their UI trust funds and have started to receive loans from the federal government to pay UI benefits. [9]

These deficits may contribute to lethargic recoveries. When trust funds are low, states must steeply raise rates to recover their costs and pay benefits. The timing of these increases could not be worse. Weak trust funds also undermine experience rating. When a state trust fund is in debt to the federal government, federal UI taxes rise on all firms in that state until the federal loan is repaid, regardless of the firm’s layoffs.

In California, for instance, the large loan balance accrued during the 2008 recession was not repaid in full until 2018, hiking payroll taxes for employers across the board. This weakens the intended incentives of experience rating to encourage employment stability and curb abuse of the UI system. According to the same Labor Department Solvency Report cited above, California’s UI trust fund was in the worst position of all 50 states just prior to the pandemic (Appendix Figure 1). [10]

The thinning tax base is a leading cause of low UI reserves. States choose how much of a worker’s earnings are exposed to UI taxation, but the federal government can “update” the minimum requirement to keep pace with inflation and the rise in average earnings. The current federal requirement of $7,000 has —remarkably — not been updated since 1982, eroding the tax base unless states have legislated increases or proactively linked their taxable UI earnings base to inflation or wage growth.

Another important consequence of a small tax base is that UI taxes become much more regressive. This can reduce the employment opportunities for part-time workers or those with low earnings since firms essentially pay an equal tax for each worker (Guo and Johnston 2020). In a state like California, an employer would pay the same UI tax for a worker who earned $8,000 annually as for one who earned $40,000.

But the latter worker is eligible for a weekly UI benefit that is five times larger ($400 per week versus just $80 per week for the lower-paid worker). Expanding the UI program’s taxable wage base in states like California would reduce the implicit penalty on hiring low-wage earners (principally seasonal and part-time workers as well as students).

To restore the health of UI trust funds, governments should expand their tax bases to be proportional to the level of benefits in their state. A basic reform to shore up trust funds could be to require states to have taxable wage bases at least half as large as their annual insurable earnings.  

Figure 3 plots the ratio of insured wages to taxable wages across the country, with larger values indicating greater insurance than funding.

Figure 3: Ratio of Annual Insured Wages to Taxable Wages (2015)

In California the UI-insurable income is $47,000, more than six times greater than the tax base of only $7,000. This reform would naturally link revenues to the generosity of the state’s UI system, allow states to lower tax rates, and bring in sufficient revenues to cushion workers the next time there is an economic shock. Harmonizing tax bases across states would also reduce the incentive for multi-state firms to reallocate jobs and operations based on state UI tax differences (Guo 2020).

Time for action

The COVID-19 crisis has put unemployment insurance at center stage of American politics and economic policy. It has provided a lifeline for tens of millions of workers who have lost their jobs since the pandemic’s onset six months ago, while at the same time exposing the system’s vulnerabilities. Given the complexity of UI financing and the scarcity of empirical evidence on which to rely, this is an important area for additional work and exploration.

Unless policymakers take steps to reform how the states’ unemployment insurance trust funds are financed, tax hikes will hurt labor market recoveries across the country — and with them, the American worker.

Mark Duggan is the Trione Director of SIEPR and the Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at Stanford. Audrey Guo is an assistant professor of economics at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. Andrew C. Johnston is an assistant professor of economics, as well as applied econometrics at the University of California at Merced.

The authors are grateful to Isaac Sorkin for his helpful feedback.

1  States differ in where they choose to fall on that trade-off. The maximum weekly benefit varies substantially across states, from a low of $235 in Mississippi to a high of $790 in Washington.  Some states also have a maximum duration of less than 26 weeks.

2  Recent research suggests that, at least in the short term, the disincentive effects of the increases in UI benefits (caused by the CARES Act) were minimal (Altonji et al. 2020).

3  More than half of states had applied or signaled their intention to apply as of August 21. Only South Dakota announced that it would not be applying (Iacurci 2020).  States that are approved are guaranteed just three weeks of federal funding for the enhanced UI benefits, though more federal funding may be available.

4  For this calculation, we extrapolate weekly UI claims through the end of the year and assume that half of those claims become benefit spells. We use data on average weekly benefit amounts and average UI spell durations to calculate the typical cost of a UI benefit spell at a little over $7,000. The product of these two values is an estimate of the UI benefit costs that will factor into UI taxes over the coming years. The actual average value could be substantially higher if the recovery is slow, as this would lead to longer and more costly average UI benefit periods.

5  These 20 states are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

6  The matched pairs are — with the states that suspended experience rating listed first — Alabama and Mississippi, Ohio and Indiana, North Dakota and South Dakota, Arizona and New Mexico, and Idaho and Oregon.

7  Appendix Table 1 lists the UI tax base in each state in 2020 along with each state’s maximum per-worker tax and maximum weekly UI benefit.

8  The Department of Labor recommends that states have reserves in their trust funds that are at least as large as the highest recent years of UI benefit payout.

9  As of August 25, 2020, 11 states have borrowed $24.4 billion from the federal unemployment account. California, New York, and Texas account for 82% of that borrowing .

10  As shown in Appendix Figure 1, California’s solvency ratio of 0.21 was lower than the other 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Altonji, Joseph, Zara Contractor, Lucas Finamor, Ryan Haygood, Ilse Lindenlaub, Costas Meghir, Cormac O’Dea, Dana Scott, Liana Wang, and Ebonya Washington. “Employment Effects of Unemployment Insurance Generosity during the Pandemic.”  Working Paper (2020).

Anderson, Patricia M., and Bruce D. Meyer. "The effects of firm specific taxes and government mandates with an application to the U.S. unemployment insurance program."  Journal of Public Economics  65, no. 2 (1997): 119-145.

Ganong, Peter, and Pascal Noel. "Consumer spending during unemployment: Positive and normative implications."  American Economic Review 109, no. 7 (2019): 2383-2424.

Ganong, Peter, Pascal Noel, and Joseph S. Vavra.  U.S. Unemployment Insurance Replacement Rates During the Pandemic , no. w27216. National Bureau of Economic Research (2020).

Guo, Audrey. "The effects of unemployment insurance taxation on multi-establishment firms." Working Paper (2020).

Guo, Audrey, and Andrew C. Johnston. "The Finance of Unemployment Compensation and its Consequence for the Labor Market." Working Paper (2020).

Iacurci, Greg. “ This Map Shows Where States Stand on the Extra $300 Weekly Unemployment Benefits. ” CNBC, August 21, 2020. 

Johnston, Andrew C. “Unemployment Insurance Taxes and Labor Demand: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Administrative Data.” Forthcoming at  American Economic Journal: Economic Policy  (2020).

Johnston, Andrew C., and Alexandre Mas. "Potential unemployment insurance duration and labor supply: The individual and market-level response to a benefit cut."  Journal of Political Economy  126, no. 6 (2018): 2480-2522.

U.S. Department of Labor. State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Solvency Report 2020.  February 2020.  

Von Wachter, Till. “ Unemployment Insurance Reform: A Primer. ” Washington Center for Equitable Growth. October 2016.   

Appendix  Table A

Source:  US Dept of Labor Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws 2019

*For single workers. Some states offer additional dependent allowances

Appendix Figure 1 - State UI Trust Fund Solvency (as of 1/1/2020)

Source: U.S. Department of Labor Trust Fund Solvency Report 2020

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🏆 best unemployment topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on unemployment, 📌 simple & easy unemployment essay titles, 💡 interesting topics to write about unemployment, ✍️ unemployment essay topics for college, ❓ essay questions on unemployment.

• Unemployment Leads to Crime Essay In the 1990s, the rate of unemployment was low and so was the rate of property crime. Crime rates increase steadily in society, and the rate of crime is connected to unemployment and low wages.
• Unemployment Causes and Effects Essay Cyclical unemployment refers to a state in which claims in the economy fail to offer jobs to people. Hidden unemployment refers to unemployment of prospective workers due to errors made in generating statistics on unemployment. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Youth Unemployment as a Social Issue Different factors have led to the high levels of youth unemployment, with the most widely studied of them being the skills that are available to the unemployed youths.
• Youth Unemployment and Policy Solutions The inability to address the problem of unemployment in the given age group may result in the growth of criminal activity, child poverty, and people’s negative perceptions of life.
• Unemployment The following are some of the advantages of using the hard system method It provides a deeper understanding and analysis of the problem of unemployment and answers the question of how to mitigate the unemployment […]
• The Philippines’ Unemployment, Inequality, Poverty However, despite the strong emphasis of the government on income equality and poverty reduction along with the growth of GDP, both poverty and economic and social inequality remain persistent in the Philippines.
• Unemployment: Causes and Effects Employers seek to recoup the costs of inflation by constantly increasing the financial performance of sales. One of these methods is to increase the gross profit ratio by reducing the cost of production.
• Entrepreneurship: Reducing Unemployment The simultaneous demand for new skills, the training of which is still little accessible due to their novelty, and the loss of relevance of acquired skills lead to unemployment.
• Downsizing and Delayering in Organization The best way to do it is to refer to the experience of the firms, which have already faced a similar dilemma.
• Unemployment in Sweden: Causes and Solutions This research looks at one of her most celebrated program that turned out later on to be the source of misery to a good number of her population; that is the welfare program that was […]
• The Increasing Rate of Unemployment In the United State of America, the rate of unemployment was at its highest in the year 2007. The topic of unemployment is important due to the impact that it has on the current economy.
• Unemployment and Underemployment This decision became a major step in relieving the social strain and allowing millions of people to survive the economic hardships caused by the imposed restrictions
• Unemployment and Lack of Economic Opportunity Having the majority of the population employed is critical for the economic and social stability of a nation. The third reason why employment and economic opportunities must be facilitated together is that it impacts the […]
• Unemployment Rate Due to Impact of Technology By understanding the role of technology on unemployment, the public can develop innovative mechanisms to overcome the issue. The impact of technology on the labor market is relevant to my present and future life.
• Causes of Rising Unemployment However, this is usually not the case as the rate of employment opportunities being created are very few compared to the demands of the population and this means that many people will be unemployed regardless […]
• Relationship Between Unemployment and Crimes Agnew, argue that crime is caused by strain that a person face throughout life, and this can be contributed to the degree of educational inequality in society.
• Robots as a Factor in Unemployment Patterns One of the prevailing arguments in regards to this problem is that the advent of the robot technology is contributing towards a high rate of unemployment.
• Downsizing: Reasons and Consequences The reason for the perceived lack of alternatives may lie in the lack of creative thinking on the part of the manager, however.
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Downsizing This paper will highlight the differences between mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing and extrapolate the circumstances that can lead a company to adopt any of the three measures. The merging of companies in a horizontal arrangement […]
• Public Administration: Unemployment Economic Impact The “official” unemployment rate is released by the U. S government is not a correct reflection of the actual state of unemployment in the nation.
• Keynesian Theory of Unemployment This brings to the conclusion that during such times the government should implement policies that are aimed at increasing aggregate demand According to Robert the, policies which the government may implement in order to reduce […]
• Naked Economics: Understanding the Dismissal Science Thus, the chapter tackles the topic of the value of money, which is confusing and often misinterpreted by the public. While the topic of international trade seems to be interesting only to the specialists in […]
• Unemployment Rate of Saudi Arabia This paper discusses the impact of unemployment on the economy of a country and explores the rates of unemployment and GDP growth in Saudi Arabia.
• Unemployment in UK To analyze why unemployment is set to rise in the UK To illustrate the true level of unemployment in UK To evaluate how technology affects unemployment in UK To analyze how inflation affects UK unemployment […]
• Organizational Downsizing and Survival Syndrome However, in case the rate of mass lay-offs following the downsizing of many firms exceeds the number of newly opened companies, the move to reduce the size of the available workforce is said to produce […]
• Unemployment Rate: Impact on GDP and Inflation In such a way, the scenario shows it is vital to preserve the balance and avoid decisions focusing on only one aspect of the economy.
• Unemployment and Economic Dynamism This type of unemployment is a natural part of the economy and is generally considered to be healthy, as it allows workers to move to new, better-paying jobs.
• Unemployment Among Emerging Adults The high rate of unemployment among emerging adults is due to the following reasons: personal skills, level of education, behavioral characteristics, and lack of capital.
• Stimulus Checks: Impact of Unemployment A stimulus check is sent to taxpaying consumers to boost the economy as it provides funds for them to consume. The stimulus check offered included a high economic relief bill to deal with the pandemic.
• The Unemployment Issue in China The People’s Republic of China is the largest country in terms of population and the third largest country in the world in terms of territory.
• Downsizing for Optimizing Firm Efficiency The adoption of downsizing to mitigate the challenges mentioned above forms the basis of discussion for this paper. The section below highlights some of the benefits accrue to a firm that adopts the policy.
• Jamaica’s Unemployment and Positive Youth Development Although a recent positive trend in decreasing levels of joblessness is apparent as the country revitalizes its main source of income, the problem of the high level of unemployment among youth is persistent.
• How COVID-19 Affected Unemployment Rate Around the World A study on the effects of COVID-19 on the employment levels in the European economies found that the pandemic led to rapid unemployment in the economies of Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.
• Unemployment and Business Cycle in Australia The unemployment rate calculation formula is quite simple the number of unemployed people is divided by the total number of people in the civilian workforce.
• Unemployment Rate After COVID-19 However, there is a visible disparity between the national unemployment rate and that of the Hispanic or Latino demographic group, which was 12.
• Unemployment Analysis and Its Measures The Federal Reserve Economic Data graphs indicate that before the Great Recession, the unemployment and total unemployment rates were relatively low at 5% and 8.
• The Federal Unemployment Tax Some percent of wages is retained by the employer from the employee’s pay, who then remits the funds to the government on the worker’s behalf.
• The Federal Unemployment Tax Act Rates In conclusion, FUTA rates regulate the unemployment rates by punishing states that fail to keep their economies balanced in times of crisis, yet they are essential for preventing a decline in the job market.
• Income and Unemployment in the US Economy Further, one may say that both fiscal and monetary policies work to promote the U.S.economy’s achievement of the three goals, including full employment, economic growth, and stable prices.
• The Unemployment Problem in Panama This paper aims to review two current news articles about Panama, which reveal the issue of the high unemployment rate in this country, which continues to increase and has taken the form of a crisis.
• Issue of Unemployment: Social Inequality The deep socio-economic divides in American society have impacted the unemployment rates even before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the virus has exacerbated the issue.
• Unemployment Disparity Affecting African Americans Systemic racism in the U.S.is the primary cause of the unemployment gap. Compared to white Americans, African Americans have a relatively low rate of education in the U.S.
• Forecasting Unemployment Rate With Value-Factor Model The peculiarity of the article is that the study is aimed at the consequences in the future, also considering the changes that occurred at the beginning of the pandemic.
• Economic Growth and Unemployment Relationship in the USA The corresponding figures characterize the structure of economic dynamics and the diversification of the labor market. The research limitation is the multifactorial nature of economic growth and unemployment indicators.
• CBS News Unemployment Report and Its Future Impression The labor system in America also requires reevaluation to ensure that jobs available meet the skills and abilities of the American people.
• Unemployment and Inflation Relation However, the level of unemployment and its prevailing types can differ significantly depending on the state of the economies of countries and the policies they use to combat unemployment.
• Media Coverage of Unemployment Content analysis on the topic of coverage of unemployment in the media allows you to analyze the mood and opinion of society, the tone of expression in the published media, and conclude the nature of […]
• Poverty and Unemployment Due to Increased Taxation The government on its side defended the move while trying to justify the new measures’ benefits, a move that would still not benefit the country.
• Unemployment Rate and COVID-19 in Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain The topic chosen for this study is the influence of COVID-19 on the rate of unemployment in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
• The Impact of Trade Policy on Unemployment According to Dutt, Mitra, and Ranjan, there is a strong link between trade and unemployment, and, therefore, adaptations of various trade policies are bound to impact unemployment indirectly. Dutt, Mitra, and Ranjan note that there […]
• Employment Law: Worker Termination and Dismissal While determining reasonable notice, companies should focus on such aspects as the age of a worker, the length of employment, the health of an employee, and the availability of jobs in the community.
• Unemployment and Recession: Causes and Relationship Another cause of recession is stringent monetary policy and increased cost of oil imports which tend to lower the rate of demand in the economy.
• Unemployment in the US and Europe The level of unemployment in the United States and Europe has continued to push the recession to unprecedented levels. Most of the jobs that were lost in the United States and Europe were in the […]
• Court Sentencing: Juvenile Status and Unemployment These provisions allowed that based on prior criminal history and in consideration of the current offense, they could be transferred for trial in adults courts.
• Unemployment Rates and Value of Houses The calculation carried is as follows:- The accompanying table shows the performance of real estate in some states Test the hypothesis that unemployment rate influences house values.Use.
• Gender Gap’s Effect on Unemployment Rate In fact, the latter, namely, the rise in the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic, has increased the rates of unemployment significantly.
• KSA Vision 2030 and Its Impact on Unemployment This resolution intends to reduce the rates of unemployment in Saudi Arabia and increase employment opportunities for women in the kingdom.
• Unemployment Within the 20th Century The purpose of this research is about showing the issue of unemployment in the 20th century, the results that it led to, the human struggle against unemployment, and the predictions of unemployment in the future.
• Macroeconomics in Unemployment Frictional unemployment is described as the unemployment that takes place because of the movement of people from one occupation to another.
• Economic Development in Saudi Arabia: Unemployment Amongst Young Saudi Generation This will allow the investigative nature of the study to be attained. The questions will be developed in cognizance to the research topic and will be based on the set objectives.
• Unemployment as the Consequence of the Development of New Technologies. What Should Private Firms and Government Do? The development of new technologies has been considered to be the way to the high level of life on the one hand and one of the main reasons for unemployment on the other hand.
• Global Recession and Unemployment Growth Connection However, the increased unemployment and the collapse of the steel industry in the United States results from the domination of companies at the microeconomic level seeking an absolute advantage at international stage. Similarly, it has […]
• UAE and GCC Economic Analysis: Inflation and Unemployment This is explained by the fact that UAE is less dependent on oil trade, hence, the inflation and unemployment rate in the UAE is lower in comparison with the countries of GCC.
• Teacher Evaluation, Discipline, and Dismissal With help of the findings of the given research, probable ideas on how to improve the existing system of teacher’s evaluation at school can be suggested, which will result in the increase of the efficiency […]
• Gender, Family, and Unemployment in Ontario’s Great Depression The introduction and all the background that Campbell gives are firmly in line with the goals of this course. The first part of the study is the business and the economic history.
• The Future of Unemployment in the United States The significance of unemployment makes it a major issue that neither the federal government nor the citizens can ignore given the fact that is one of the indicators of the strength of the economy.
• The Take-Up of Unemployment Study in USA The take up of unemployment is beneficial because it will enable the living standard of people to increase and contributes to the general performance of the economy. Small business funding ensures that more people are […]
• Financial Position of AT&T Through Downsizing As mentioned, due to the tough economic conditions that were being experienced the world over in the year 2008 and partly through 2009, the company decided to lay off close to 4% of its workforce.
• Downsizing Strategy: The Reasons and Benefits Firstly it is important to note that downsizing has implications to the remaining workforce in terms of confidence and loyalty to the organization.
• Gasoline Prices, Rates of Unemployment, Inflation, and Economic Growth The data which has been queried from the database are related to gasoline prices in California, the unemployment rate in the US, the inflation rate in the US, and Real GDP.
• Pakistan: GDP and Unemployment This shows a clear relationship between the economy of the country and the employment that it is able to generate. This unemployment is increasing in both the rural areas and the urban areas of the […]
• Measuring Unemployment Issues in Society Types of unemployment include; frictional unemployment, cyclical unemployment, seasonal unemployment, and structural unemployment. Seasonal unemployment is a result of the rise and fall of a particular job.
• Macroeconomics and Unemployment The author of the article is Jennifer Steinhauer and the source where the article is taken from is the newspaper “The New York Times”, issued on September 18, 2009, that is why the information under […]
• Outsourcing, Downsizing, and Delayering On the whole, outsourcing can be defined as transferring some of the firms activities to a third party or subcontractor for a certain period of time.
• The US and the Philippines: Unemployment and Inflation In cyclical terms, this rising inflation is actually the product and not the cause of these record-high oil prices and the idea that the U.S.had failed to think of the above-discussed alternatives to the energy […]
• Youth Unemployment in Africa: A Challenge for Public Policy Makers With a large population to take care of the market for labour is overstretched from Johannesburg to Tangiers and cannot accommodate the influx of young job seekers leading to shortage or in some cases the […]
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Speech on Unemployment Reaction As, I sat down to listen on the FDR’s speech over the radio, and being one of the unemployed labor in the country, I did hope that a better future was on the way.
• Downsizing. Planning and Executing Strategies To define the extent of downsizing and the rearrangement of roles and responsibilities that will be assigned to the rest of the staff, a company’s key goals will have to be determined, including the domains […]
• Automation Impact on Unemployment Scope: The scope of the article is to analyze and overview the connection between productivity and employment figures in the US.
• How Falling Unemployment Affect College Enrollment It is common to associate the relationship between unemployment and college enrollment with the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the Great Recession on the border of the 2000s-2010s.
• Macroeconomics: Unemployment Rate in North America Such indicators of economic development as the labor force rate and the unemployment rate are the significant aspects of state development and its policies regarding the labor market.
• Unemployment and Social Exclusion In the countries of Europe, the rate of unemployment varies between 3 and 23 percent with the highest numbers in Ireland and Greece and the lowest in Iceland, Norway, Germany, and Malta; the United States […]
• Unemployment Rates and Credit Card Debts in the US The reduction of the unemployment rate is logical as changes have affected the labor market. Concerning debts on loans, too open system of bank lending to the population can be an additional factor causing this […]
• Consumer Price Index and Unemployment Rate The first issue is related to the tendency of consumers to adjust their preferences based on prices faster than the CPI can reflect, leading to inaccurate representations of the data in the index.
• Econometrics: Poverty, Unemployment, Household Income The goal of this project is to come up with a model that relates to the poverty level in the United States and the unemployment rate and total household income.
• Recommendations for Determining the Dismissal of Jessie In her complaint, Jessie argues that she has been discriminated against because of her impairment and that her supervisor did not give her a reasonable allowance to accommodate her disability.
• United States Unemployment Rates in 2013-2014 In the first four months of 2014, the rate of unemployment in the United States dropped to about 6. 3 percent, and the number of the unemployed dropped by about 1.
• Business Cycle and Unemployment The other phase is the recovery phase which occurs after the recession and is seen by a steady rise on GDP.
• Due Process and Fair Dismissal of Teachers in Texas Specifically, the due process does not explain why a teacher should be dismissed but provides the procedures that should be followed by a school to dismiss a teacher.
• Unemployment Types in Spain and the United States Firms and companies in Spain have no requirement to hire more people and this is because of the state of the economy.
• Unemployment Rates in KNPR’s “State of Nevada” The discussion concentrated on unemployment rates in the State of Nevada and its potential solutions. The unemployment rate in the State of Nevada was 12% for March.
• Unemployment and Its Social Consequences One of the impacts of unemployment that connects the unemployed individual with the social fraternity is the lost self-esteem that an individual suffers.
• Self-Reported Community Health and Unemployment Rate The initiative to increase the number of job offerings instead of spending money on health fairs and educational programs can positively affect the mental well-being of the community.
• Unemployment Values: Types and Impacts The first impact of unemployment on the economy is the extra financial costs that a government may have to incur when unemployed persons are paid some stipends.
• Unemployment and Suicide Rates Correlation in the US The problem of correlation between the levels of unemployment and suicide rates has been previously investigated in the research literature. However, the association between unemployment and suicide rates was discovered in the data collected during […]
• Foreign Direct Investment Role in Unemployment The following report explores the evidence behind the claims of both the advocates and the opponents of globalization and one of its prominent manifestations foreign direct investment to determine whether its effect could be used […]
• Unemployment as a Local Economic Issue The evaluation of these aspects is crucial to the current research for the reason that it would help highlight the weak spots of the modern employment apparatus and suggest novel ways of dealing with unemployment.
• The Relationship Between Fiscal Spending and Unemployment The Obama administration passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in response to the financial crisis caused by the disappearance of the $5 trillion household wealth of the country in just 12 weeks.
• Unemployment as National Economic Health Indicator Unemployment is considered a key indicator of national economic health as it directly reflects on the efficiency of government policy and the population purchasing potential. The concept of the natural level of employment in the […]
• Unemployment as a Sorting Criterion The researchers developed a study to evaluate the relationship between the length of unemployment and the stigmatization attitude associated with employers when they handle the affected job applicants.
• Spain and Its Unemployment Problems The low rate of employment is the most renowned characteristic of the Spanish economy as per the close of the Twentieth Century.
• Unemployment Insurance Extension in the US In this way, extended UI lets them realize that they are not forgotten by the rest of society, and there is still an opportunity to find an appropriate job.
• Unemployment Insurance Policy in the United States Despite some of the efforts embraced by different communities, the issue of unemployment has continued to affect the welfare of many citizens in the country.
• African Americans’ Unemployment Rate in 2014 The African American racial group has the highest rate of unemployment in the United States, continuing a longstanding pattern whereby Blacks always find themselves at the periphery of the American labor force.
• Unemployment Reduction Strategy for Chesapeake, VA A comprehensive unemployment reduction strategy implemented within Chesapeake, VA, would drive the current unemployment rate of 4. The unemployment rate exacerbates local economic concerns in terms of healthcare costs, household income, and living standards.
• Employment Status, Dismissals and Exit Interviews Secondly, the status helps to determine the obligations of the employer towards the individual, and the rights of the individual. For example, only employees may present claims of unfair dismissal by an employer and the […]
• Dismissal Meeting: The Art of Delivering Bad News Therefore, sympathy toward the employee and the recognition of the latter’s contribution to the company’s growth, as well as the acknowledgment of their professional expertise, must be viewed as the foundation for the communication.
• Policy: The Aftermath of War – Servicemen Facing Unemployment However, after retiring from their job with disabilities, the most significant issue that faces the transitioning service individuals to reintegrate effectively with the civilian society has been the need to find and cultivate organizational attachments […]
• US Teachers’ Rights, Dismissal, and Discrimination First of all, the principal violates the First Amendment since she deprives the woman of her freedom of expression and the ability to speak freely.
• Unemployment Forms and Causes: Economic Standpoint Unemployment could be defined as the state in the economy where there are many people who are willing and able to work but they do not get a chance to employ their skills to the […]
• Unemployment in Sydney: Spatial Patterns Analysis In contrast, such areas as North West Sydney or Upper North Shore that have the lowest level of unemployment and the highest level of household income.
• Unemployment in Abu Dhabi and Dubai: Causes and Solutions Various studies have concluded that there is a correlation between the level of unemployment in the country and the strength of the economy.
• Unemployment Rate as the Biggest National Economy Challenge The United States has the largest national economy and it is the largest trading nation in the world. The recent financial crisis of 2008 increased the rate of unemployment, and impacted the economy negatively.
• The Level of Unemployment Among Veterans Veterans are some of the most important segments of the USA’s population, bearing in mind that they sacrificed their lives and time to serve the nation in the past.
• The US Unemployment Benefits Evaluation The timeliness of these statistics is essential for the gauging of the labor market health and in extension, the performance in of the economy in general. The analysis of the data provides for the selection […]
• Unemployment Issue in the United States Though a shrinkage in the number of vacancies and the rapid increase in the number of part-time jobs have had their toll on the unemployment rates, the lack of vacancies still remains the key cause […]
• Unemployment and State of the US Economy However, it is necessary to emphasize that the consideration of a great number of various key points at the same time is the guaranty of the efficient and prosperous economy of the state.
• Unemployment in Saudi Arabia Much effort has been in place to from the government of Saudi Arabia in order to address the question of unemployment despite the fact that the nation is full of vast deposits of crude oil.
• Inflation and Unemployment in the United States In the 21st century, there are so many issues in the economy of the United States. This is increasing the demand for skilled workers by the day as opposed to the unskilled.
• Men’ and Women’ Unemployment Disparity Purpose of research: This study aimed at establishing the difference in gap of the rate of unemployment between women and men during the 2007 recession.
• Unemployment and Inflation Issues In most cases, if one is suffering structural unemployment, it is as a result of improvement in a certain area, or a change in the way things are done.
• Unemployment in the United States It could be assumed that unemployment is a critical issue in the United States of America, as it has a strong impact on the society and other spheres of everyday life.
• Economic Stimulus and Unemployment The role of government in influencing the macroeconomic sphere of the economy is one that cannot be understated. One of the foremost negative effects of such fiscal policy is that the influx of government-induced money […]
• Economic Issues: Unemployment in the United States In the first news article titled “The US has a Jobs Crisis: Here’s How to Fix it,” the authors use the latest statistics to demonstrate the problem of unemployment in the US, before relying on […]
• Unemployment Effects on Lithuania Individuals The reduction is attributed to the efforts made by the government to resuscitate the economy through export promotion and improving efficiency in the public sector.
• The Unemployment Situation in the United States This article reviews the current unemployment situation in the United States and the actions that the Obama administration is taking to improve the situation.
• Public Policies for Reducing Unemployment In the recent times, the issue of unemployment has taken a new dimension in the United States. After reflecting on the economic problems facing the United States, it is important to tackle the issue of […]
• Predicting Unemployment Rates to Manage Inventory 81 1949 6.1 0.04 4.74 1.32 1. 15 2000 4.0 1.82 6.
• The Youth Unemployment Crisis in Spain In order to further identify the root cause of the problem of the high levels of unemployment in Spain, it is necessary to evaluate the evolution of the unemployment among the youth in the country, […]
• David Jones Company’s Strategies for Downsizing Furthermore, this report looks at the procedures of downsizing and other viable options in lieu of downsizing or in the event that the strategy fails to produce the expected results.
• Reasons and Solutions for Unemployment in USA Unemployment provides statistical evidence of the economic health and performance of a Government and is defined as a count of the number of people who are not actively engaged in gainful jobs, have failed to […]
• Youth Unemployment in UK and Talent Management Challenges The economic recession that began in 2007 continues to affect a great number of U.K.businesses and one of its effects is the decrease in the number of jobs available to young people.
• Dismissal Meeting The dismissal meeting should be conducted by the immediate boss, who is usually the most conversant with the employee and the reasons for the dismissal.
• Downsizing in the U.S. Military A number of structural policies and strategies guide the military; these provide explanations on the business of the military and the values it upholds.
• Change Management Process: Downsizing and Outsourcing Managing change After defining the problem that needed to be addressed by the change to come, the management decided to appoint a steering committee of three people, including the engineering manager; the choice of the […]
• Social Theory & its Relation to Social Problems: Unemployment. Furthermore, classical economists perceive unemployment as a result of excess supply that is influenced due to elevated price level of work labor.
• The Euro Zone’s Rising Inflation and Unemployment Rate However, the euro zone found itself in a predicament from late 2009 after the economic downturns that faced some countries in the euro zone.
• The Implications of Downsizing to the Employees, Communities and Families of the Employees This paper seeks to establish the effects of downsizing to the employees, communities and the families of the employees. Effects of downsizing on the community in general The economic effects of downsizing are not limited […]
• Unemployment Issue in Europe The European Member States should recommend the use of economic stimulus package in order to spur economic activity in the region.
• Concept of Downsizing Strategy in Business The purpose of this research is to provide a clear illustration of the impacts of downsizing on the three levels of an organization.
• Reasons for Increasing Unemployment in U.S The credit crunch that was experienced between from 2007 to 2009 greatly battered the private sector labor market and resulted in a decline in the number of people who are gainfully employed in the US.
• Long-Term Unemployment in the U.S. From the article, Seib identifies a number of issues that contribute to the problem of the long-term unemployed. This has adverse effects on the ability of such children to get employed in future.
• Unemployment in California The unemployment rate increased due to various reasons such as uncertainty arising from the slow growth in the economy, current slide in the stock market and the debt crisis from the European region, which spooked […]
• Unemployment, Labor, and Government Economic Forces The article, “The State of Economics”, is an article that discusses the turmoil between economists of the current age in trying to reconcile economic principles with both the classical and Keynesian economic theories of the […]
• Definition of Unemployment and Its Types The major limitation of the insurance programs policy is that the employees have to make regular contributions of some amount to the program.
• Concept of Employee Downsizing Consequently, the article tests the hypothesis that employees with health problems before downsizing in an organization are the target of layoffs, while the health of leavers after downsizing is dependent of reemployment.
• Concept of Automation of Services and their Effect on Unemployment Increased wage rate has the effect of increasing the cost of production and since firms are in the business to make profits, they will increase the prices of their products.
• An Employee Layoff Process: Conducting the Dismissal Meeting If they fail to respect the emotions, the management might fail to control the anxiety and the fear of employees in the restructured company.
• Detrimental Effects of Unemployment on People’s Health It is necessary to note that unemployment is regarded as one of the social determinants of health discussed by Wilkinson and Marmot.
• Unemployment in New Jersey There has been a rise in the number of those employed from 143,328 in October 2012 to 143,568 in October 2013.
• Corporate Downsizing Concept and Proper Execution The advancements that have rocked the technological sector are seen to be the greatest influence behind the idea and have to a great extent contributed to the popularity of downsizing.
• Unemployment as a Social Problem To gauge the rate of unemployment the number of the people who are idle is calculated versus the number of people who have been hired.
• The Unemployment Reasons in the UAE In conclusion, the high unemployment rate in the UAE is a result of poor training, the influx of foreign expatriates and government failure to create more jobs for the locals.
• Immigrants in Qatar and the UAE: Laws and Regulations. The Threat of Unemployment vs. the Concern for Social Identity Focusing on the issues of immigration in general and the complexities which the GCC countries have in relation to the issue of immigration in particular, the given paper provides a detailed account of the current […]
• Corporate Downsizing and Restructuring Challenges Concurrently, in the context of restructuring and downsizing business operations, some organisations collaborate with other organisations to attain the desired competitive advantages.
• Labor and Unemployment Rate This ensures that these people make a useful contribution to the economic growth of the country. In addition, lack of stability may also reduce the need to have children.
• The Current Impact of Inflation and Unemployment on Germany’s Political/Economic System It is notable to recognize the fact that the rate of savings in the nation is quite high causing a dip in the rate of inflation.
• Mehdi Hasan: Unemployment Matters More Than GDP or Inflation The writer is of the opinion that job creation is more important for the euro zone populace than solving the problems of inflation and GDP growth.
• Unemployment, Downsizing, and Deindustrialization The effects of both deindustrialization and downsizing that are evidenced due to changing demographics and changing geographic locations of industries depending on the costs to be incurred have very many negative consequences on both the […]
• Youth Unemployment in the UK Such programmes have led to an increase in the level of people who are self-employed. This has led to rise of people who are self-employed in the UK over the years.
• Unemployment in the US: Job Favoritism Spiggs, an official at the “Department of Labor,” insinuated that it could not be easy for the government to determine the extent of the setback.
• Unemployment Rates in the U.S. Chetty has found that 10 % increase in the UI benefits have resulted in the increase of unemployment duration by 4.8%.
• Historical Analysis on Unemployment The city of Los Angeles is one of the places that are worst hit by the catastrophe. The report summarizes that the situation is worse in the US and more particularly in Los Angeles because […]
• Benefits Run Out for Spain’s Jobless: Theories of Unemployment The aim of the paper is to summarize the article on unemployment and establish a connection between the article and the economic theories unemployment.
• Unemployment Rates in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics The rise in the unemployment rate in 2008 can be termed as cyclical unemployment rate, i.e.the unemployment that occurs due to changes in business cycle.
• National Unemployment & Recession When the recession is severe, there is an increase in the rate of national unemployment and hence a rise in the number of unemployed individuals in the society.
• Employee Benefits, Unemployment Insurance and Workers Compensation Employee benefits are not counted as part of salary or wages earned by the employees and are provided to the employees in exchange for their contribution towards the organization.
• Being Unemployed and the Impact of Unemployment as a Broad Issue In as much as we would like to take the issue of unemployment at an individual level, it is not possible since it touches on the society as whole and hence the need to discuss […]
• Addressing the Downsizing in America However, in 2007, the company was hit hard by the global financial crisis and one of the restructuring strategies adopted by the management was to outsource the sales department. Downsizing is the result of a […]
• Unemployment Problem in the US Millions of people experience short-term unemployment each year, which last a couple of weeks, during their switch of jobs due to the flexibility to the job market.
• Unemployment as Sosial Problem Many specialists predict that the problems are going to last for some period of time and the countries which are included in the Euro zone should try hard to remove the problem and to return […]
• Analysis of Unemployment and Inflation in the United States This was at the height of the recession that continues to grapple the country with major negative implications in the economy.
• Unemployment in UAE Unwillingness of Men and Women to Work in Certain Occupations One of the factors that have been cited as a cause of unemployment in UAE is that both men women have not been prepared to […]
• Downsizing 10 per Cent of the Staff It may seem that the most complicated task an HR manager faces is finding and hiring a new employee who will meet the requirements of the workplace and the expectations of the company.
• High Unemployment to Last for Years The best measure of unemployment is taking a sample of households, and taking the number of unemployed in that particular household and also looking at the number of people who have registered in employment agencies.
• Does Broadband Internet Reduce the Unemployment Rate?
• Can Slowly Adjusting Wages Explain Involuntary Unemployment?
• Does Culture Affect Unemployment?
• Are Early Educational Choices Affected by Unemployment Benefits?
• Does European Unemployment Prop Up American Wages?
• Can Black Workers Escape Spatial Mismatch?
• Does Higher Language Proficiency Decrease the Probability of Unemployment?
• Are Protective Labor Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment?
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IvyPanda. (2024, March 3). 205 Unemployment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/unemployment-essay-topics/

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AP®︎/College Macroeconomics

Course: ap®︎/college macroeconomics   >   unit 2.

• Unemployment rate primer
• Natural, cyclical, structural, and frictional unemployment rates
• Worked free response question on unemployment

Lesson summary: Unemployment

• Unemployment
• Types of unemployment and the natural rate of unemployment

Lesson overview

Key takeaways, the labor force participation rate (lfpr), limitations of the unemployment rate, three types of unemployment, the natural rate of unemployment, changes in the natural rate of unemployment (nru), key equations, the labor force:, the unemployment rate (ur), common misperceptions.

• Not everyone who is out of work is unemployed. In order to be counted as unemployed you have to be out of work, looking for work, and able to accept a job if one is offered to you. If you are out of work and not looking, then you are considered “not in the labor force” rather than unemployed.
• We tend to think of unemployment as an undesirable thing, but a certain amount of unemployment is actually part of a healthy economy. Structural unemployment occurs when new industries are created and old industries become obsolete. For example, when we moved from using horses and buggies to using cars to get around, this put a lot of buggy makers in the structurally unemployed category.
• Frictional unemployment might not seem very fun, but consider what it means to have zero unemployment—nobody ever looks for a job, they just remain in whatever job they are given! In fact, a number of dystopian novels have been written in which everyone in a society is automatically assigned a fixed career (such as the Divergent series). Those societies have zero frictional unemployment, but they are also quite unpleasant if you are unhappy with that career!
• A decrease in the unemployment rate isn’t necessarily a sign of an improving economy. When people stop looking for jobs and drop out of the labor force as discouraged workers, the unemployment rate will decrease even though the true employment situation hasn’t gotten any better. This is why it is important to look at both changes in the unemployment rate and changes in the labor force participation rate. Looking at both changes let’s you get a more complete idea about changes in the employment situation.

Discussion Questions:

• An inventor in Burginville developed a fantastic new dictation machine that perfectly records speech and turns it into a typed document. Unfortunately, that meant that unemployment increased among typists working in offices. Which type of unemployment is this? Explain. Solution, please. This is structural unemployment because typists skills are no longer desired. The changing structure of office work has resulted in people losing their jobs.
• The nation of Fitlandia has 120 , 000 ‍   people. Of these, 20 , 000 ‍   are children under the age of 16, 72,000 ‍   have jobs, 8,000 ‍   don’t have jobs and are looking for work, and 20,000 ‍   people are retired. Assuming that these are all noninstitutionalized civilians, calculate the labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate. I think I got it. Can I check my work? L F = # Employed + # Unemployed = 72,000 + 8,000 = 80,000 L F P R = L F Eligible Population × 100 % = 80,000 100,000 × 100 % = 80 % U R = # Unemployed # Labor Force × 100 % = 8,000 80,000 × 100 % = 10 % ‍  
• Explain why a decrease in the unemployment rate can actually signal a tough job market.

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Policies for reducing unemployment

There are two main strategies for reducing unemployment –

• Demand side policies to reduce demand-deficient unemployment (unemployment caused by recession)
• Supply side policies to reduce structural unemployment / (the natural rate of unemployment )

A quick list of policies to reduce unemployment

• Monetary policy – cutting interest rates to boost aggregate demand (AD)
• Fiscal policy – cutting taxes to boost AD.
• Education and training to help reduce structural unemployment.
• Geographical subsidies to encourage firms to invest in depressed areas.
• Lower minimum wage to reduce real wage unemployment.
• More flexible labour markets, to make it easier to hire and fire workers.

Video summary

Demand side policies

Demand side policies are critical when there is a recession and rise in cyclical unemployment. (e.g. after 1991/92 recession and after 2008 recession)

1. Fiscal Policy

Fiscal policy can decrease unemployment by helping to increase aggregate demand and the rate of economic growth. The government will need to pursue expansionary fiscal policy; this involves cutting taxes and increasing government spending. Lower taxes increase disposable income (e.g. VAT cut to 15% in 2008) and therefore help to increase consumption, leading to higher aggregate demand (AD).

With an increase in AD, there will be an increase in Real GDP (as long as there is spare capacity in the economy.) If firms produce more, there will be an increase in demand for workers and therefore lower demand-deficient unemployment. Also, with higher aggregate demand and strong economic growth, fewer firms will go bankrupt meaning fewer job losses.

Keynes was an active advocate of expansionary fiscal policy during a prolonged recession. He argues that in a recession, resources (both capital and labour) are idle. Therefore the government should intervene and create additional demand to reduce unemployment.

Impact of Higher AD on Economy

This shows an increase in AD causing higher real GDP. The increase in output leads to firms needing more workers.

• It depends on other components of AD. e.g. if confidence is low, cutting taxes may not increase consumer spending because people prefer to save. Also, people may not spend tax cuts, if they will soon be reversed.
• Fiscal policy may have time lags. E.g., a decision to increase government spending may take a long time to affect aggregated demand (AD).
• If the economy is close to full capacity, an increase in AD will only cause inflation. Expansionary fiscal policy will only reduce unemployment if there is an output gap.
• Expansionary fiscal policy will require higher government borrowing – this may not be possible for countries with high levels of debt, and rising bond yields.
• In the long run, expansionary fiscal policy may cause crowding out, i.e. the government increase spending but because they borrow from the private sector, they have less to spend, and therefore AD doesn’t increase. However, Keynesians argue crowding out will not occur in a liquidity trap .

2. Monetary policy

Monetary policy would involve cutting interest rates. Lower rates decrease the cost of borrowing and encourage people to spend and invest. This increases AD and should also help to increase GDP and reduce demand deficient unemployment.

Also, lower interest rates will reduce exchange rate and make exports more competitive.

In some cases, lower interest rates may be ineffective in boosting demand. In this case, Central Banks may resort to Quantitative easing. This is an attempt to increase the money supply and boost aggregate demand. See: Quantitative easing.

• Similar problems to fiscal policy. e.g. it depends on other components of AD.
• Lower interest rates may not help boost spending if banks are still reluctant to lend.
• Demand side policies can contribute to reducing demand deficient unemployment e.g. in a recession. However, they cannot reduce supply-side unemployment. Therefore, their effectiveness depends on the type of unemployment that occurs.

Supply side policies for reducing unemployment

Supply side policies deal with more micro-economic issues. They don’t aim to boost overall aggregate demand but seek to overcome imperfections in the labour market and reduce unemployment caused by supply side factors. Supply side unemployment includes:

• Classical (real wage)

Policies to reduce supply-side unemployment

1. Education and training . The aim is to give the long-term unemployed new skills which enable them to find jobs in developing industries, e.g. retrain unemployed steel workers to have basic I.T. skills which help them find work in the service sector. – However, despite providing education and training schemes, the unemployed may be unable or unwilling to learn new skills. At best it will take several years to reduce unemployment.

2. Reduce the power of trades unions . If unions can bargain for wages above the market clearing level, they will cause real wage unemployment. In this case reducing the influence of trades unions (or reducing Minimum wages) will help solve this real wage unemployment.

3. Employment subsidies . Firms could be given tax breaks or subsidies for taking on long-term unemployed. This helps give them new confidence and on the job training. However, it will be quite expensive, and it may encourage firms to just replace current workers with the long-term unemployment to benefit from the tax breaks.

4. Improve labour market flexibility . It is argued that higher structural rates of unemployment in Europe is due to restrictive labour markets which discourage firms from employing workers in the first place. For example, abolishing maximum working weeks and making it easier to hire and fire workers may encourage more job creation. However, increased labour market flexibility could cause a rise in temporary employment and greater job insecurity.

5. Stricter benefit requirements . Governments could take a more pro-active role in making the unemployed accept a job or risk losing benefits. After a certain period, the government could guarantee a public sector job (e.g. cleaning streets). This could significantly reduce unemployment. However, it may mean the government end up employing thousands of people in unproductive tasks which is very expensive. Also, if you make it difficult to claim benefits, you may reduce the claimant count, but not the International Labour force survey. See: measures of unemployment

6. Improved geographical mobility . Often unemployed is more concentrated in certain regions. To overcome this geographical unemployment, the government could give tax breaks to firms who set up in depressed areas. Alternatively, they can provide financial assistance to unemployed workers who move to areas with high employment. (e.g. help with renting in London)

7. Maximum working week . It has been suggested a maximum working week of (for example 35 hours) would lead to firms needing to hire more workers and reduce unemployment.

• However, a maximum working week may increase a firms costs and therefore they are not willing to hire more. Also, there is no certainty a firm will respond to a cut in hours by employing more – they may try to increase productivity. Those with the wrong skills will still face the same problem.

Video on policies to reduce unemployment

• Causes of Unemployment
• The unemployment problem
• Inflation v Unemployment

47 thoughts on “Policies for reducing unemployment”

yep, in a way I agree that lowering the minimum wage would just lead to more people not working and getting money of the government as an alternative. This results in a higher unemployment rate, as well as money the government could be spending on medicine being spend on people who don’t have jobs seeing as its not worth working because the money you make is too low.

My suggestion is that as South Africans we are not working 24_7 .If all government departments eg clinics,police,our courts some municipal departments like refuse removal,water and sewer,revenue department can work shifts that will keep all this places open in all municipalities and your Pick and pays and other will also follow suit.Taxis will also be forced to employ more drivers for nightshift. Big companies Eskom and mines to generate own electricity to help the grid by making manual electric plants like tandem bicycle that can drive turbines like old bicycle light.Its possible just need engineers to figure out how.But those manual generators can give people employment 24/7 as well.

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How to Cope with the Issues on Poverty and Unemployment

Last Updated: April 19, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Alex Kwan and by wikiHow staff writer, Kira Jan . Alex Kwan is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and the CEO of Flex Tax and Consulting Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has also served as a Vice President for one of the top five Private Equity Firms. With over a decade of experience practicing public accounting, he specializes in client-centered accounting and consulting, R&D tax services, and the small business sector. There are 32 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 75,393 times.

Unemployment and poverty are linked, since a lack of income makes it hard for people to make ends meet. What can communities and governments do to reduce poverty and unemployment? Whether you’re a student or an activist, we’ve outlined the top strategies and policies recommended by experts to help you understand these complex economic issues. The solutions fall into three major buckets–helping people become more employable, creating more jobs, and supporting governmental programs to stop the cycle of poverty.

Promote education for everyone.

• Donate to scholarship funds. For instance, you can donate to the Children’s Scholarship Fund to support K-8 education in the U.S. at https://scholarshipfund.org/
• Support afterschool tutoring programs and mentorship programs that connect students with caring adults. [5] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Go to source Visit https://secure.givelively.org/donate/afterschool-alliance to donate.
• Give money to funds that pay for transport to and from school. Search online to find local and state funds that support kids near you.

Make job training more accessible.

• Governments can provide federally-funded or state-funded job training programs. These are often run by state workforce development commissions.

Create microfinance programs.

• New studies on the impacts of microfinance question whether it’s a solution that truly benefits the poor. While it may help empower female entrepreneurs living in poverty, microfinance can potentially worsen overall debt. [13] X Research source

Increase jobs in labor-intensive industries.

• Economists find that employing more people (rather than using machines) doesn’t result in the huge drop in productivity you might imagine. [15] X Research source

To address poverty and unemployment, education, job training, microfinance, and counseling must combine with policy transformation. Safety nets must cover all while infrastructure and hiring incentives create good jobs. Healthcare access and affordability need improving too. With coordination across sectors, cycles trapping people in poverty can end.

Invest in infrastructure.

• Beyond just providing jobs, infrastructure development makes the economy more connected. When there’s more infrastructure, it’s easier for people to travel around in order to buy or sell goods and services.
• For instance, to help alleviate poverty and unemployment in the rural Philippines, better access to roads and the internet could help farmers sell their goods. [17] X Research source

Reduce barriers to unemployment insurance.

• Some states specify that only people with a certain work history length can receive unemployment benefits, and adjusting work history requirements could more people eligible. [20] X Research source
• States also could consider eliminating waiting periods for people to receive their unemployment insurance benefits. Currently, 42 states require people to wait 1 week to receive benefits. [21] X Research source
• To receive unemployment benefits, you have to prove you lost your job through no fault of your own. States might consider changing what qualifies as an “acceptable” cause of unemployment. [22] X Research source

Create affordable housing.

• For example, one region might say you have to be 50% below the median income for an area while another region might say you qualify if your income is 80% below the median income.

Ensure access to clean water and sanitation.

• Communities can improve access to water by helping people create water safety plans for keeping water contaminant-free and building water filtration systems and wells. [27] X Trustworthy Source World Health Organization Health information and news provided by the World Health Organization Go to source
• Visit The Water Project ( https://thewaterproject.org/ ) or Charity Water ( https://www.charitywater.org/ ) to donate and support bringing clean water to those in need.

Improve access to healthcare.

• On the provider level, doctors have to understand that patients in poverty might face greater obstacles to getting treatment.
• Patients in poverty may find medications too expensive, may lack transportation to get to the doctor’s office, and may not have a work schedule that lets them easily see a doctor. [29] X Trustworthy Source American Academy of Family Physicians Organization devoted to improving the health of patients, families, and communities Go to source

Offer counseling services to support families in poverty.

• Connect families in need to a Federally Qualified Health Center if they can’t afford to pay for psychological services. [32] X Research source

Increase access to financial services.

• For instance, creating free digital banking services can make it easy for people to access accounts. [34] X Research source
• In the U.S., predatory financial services, like high-cost mortgage firms, have historically targeted Black and Latino communities. Today, these communities are 30-86% more likely to be financially “underwater” as a result of high-cost mortgages. [35] X Research source

Support single-mother households.

• Support single mothers in your community by donating kids’ clothes and toys and contributing staples like canned goods to your local food bank. [37] X Research source
• If you know a single mother, offer to babysit, or carpool to school if you have kids of your own.
• In 2013, federal benefits reduced the poverty rate among single mothers by half.

Improve fairness in criminal justice systems.

• Incarceration negatively impacts communities of color more than white communities.
• Visit The Sentencing Project ( https://www.sentencingproject.org/actions/ ) to take action and connect with state and local partners working towards legal reform.

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://en.unesco.org/news/world-poverty-could-be-cut-half-if-all-adults-completed-secondary-education
• ↑ https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/education/
• ↑ https://educateachild.org/explore/barriers-to-education
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528798/
• ↑ Alex Kwan. Certified Public Accountant. Expert Interview. 23 April 2021.
• ↑ https://prospect.org/special-report/education-cure-poverty/
• ↑ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2018/02/22/447115/better-training-better-jobs/
• ↑ https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/august-2015/microfinance-good-poor
• ↑ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726716640865
• ↑ https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/issues/employment-and-decent-work.html
• ↑ https://ideas.repec.org/a/sls/ipmsls/v28y20154.html
• ↑ https://www.brookings.edu/research/expanding-opportunity-through-infrastructure-jobs/
• ↑ https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/02/06/na020620the-philippines-a-good-time-to-expand-the-infrastructure-push
• ↑ https://www.cbpp.org/research/introduction-to-unemployment-insurance
• ↑ https://www.urban.org/research/publication/how-does-unemployment-affect-family-arrangements-children
• ↑ https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/cares-act-measures-strengthening-unemployment-insurance-should-continue
• ↑ https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/coronavirus-booker-introduces-bill-to-get-unemployment-assistance-immediately-to-laid-off-workers
• ↑ https://www.wpr.org/evers-aims-increase-unemployment-benefits-lower-barriers
• ↑ https://archives.hud.gov/local/nv/goodstories/2006-04-06glos.cfm
• ↑ https://www.hud.gov/topics/rental_assistance/phprog
• ↑ https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1087682
• ↑ https://thewaterproject.org/why-water/poverty
• ↑ https://www.who.int/westernpacific/activities/improving-access-to-safe-water-sanitation-and-hygiene
• ↑ https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/poverty-health
• ↑ https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/poverty-health.html
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7525587/
• ↑ https://www.hrsa.gov/opa/eligibility-and-registration/health-centers/fqhc/index.html
• ↑ https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/BreakingTheCycle_0.pdf
• ↑ https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/overview#2
• ↑ https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/renewing-communities-and-providing-opportunities-through-innovative-solutions-to-poverty/
• ↑ https://parents-together.org/11-realistic-ways-to-support-single-parents-during-the-covid-19-crisis/
• ↑ https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/incarceration-and-poverty-in-the-united-states/

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Unemployment - Policies to Reduce Unemployment

Last updated 21 Mar 2021

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Which economic policies can be used to reduce unemployment?

Distinction can be made between demand-side and supply-side policies to improve the working of the labour market in matching people to available jobs

Reducing occupational immobility: Immobility is a cause structural unemployment.

Policies such as apprenticeship schemes aim to provide the unemployed with the new skills they need to find fresh employment and to improve the incentives to find work . In 2013, over 500,000 people started apprenticeships in the UK.

For many years the poor quality of work-place training has been a concern, with evidence of a persistent skills-gap in the UK. In a report published in 2011, a trade union reported that 11% of British adults do not have any qualifications.In some areas such as parts of Glasgow and Birmingham, more than a third of people of working age have no qualifications.

Reducing the geographical immobility of labour: Many people have the right skills to find fresh work but factors such as high house prices and housing rents, family and social ties and regional differences in the cost of living make it difficult and sometimes impossible to change location in order to get a new job. Many economists point to a persistently low level of new house-building as a major factor impeding labour mobility and the chances finding new work.

Benefit and tax reforms: To some economists, a policy that reduces the real value of welfare benefits might increase the incentive for the unemployed to take a job. But it is rare that the root cause of someone staying out of work is the prospect of out of work welfare handouts. Targeted measures to improve people's incentives might include linking welfare benefits to participation in work experience programmes or lower marginal tax rates for people on low incomes.

Boosting aggregate demand:

• A Keynesian-style stimulus is an active policy during a recession.This might include increases in state investment spending or lower taxes to boost disposable income
• Both are a fiscal stimulus . Many governments have turned to fiscal policy as a way of creating new jobs; some economists refer to such programmes as providing 'shovel-ready' jobs, typically involving construction projects that are labour intensive
• The hope is that extra spending on new roads, housing and other infrastructure projects will lead to a strong positive multiplier effect on output, incomes and jobs.

Employment subsidies and/or employment tax cuts (demand-side policy):

• Government subsidies for businesses that take on the long-term unemployed – for example, as part of the UK Youth Contract, payments of up to £2,275 are available to employers who take on young people (aged 18-24) who have been claiming JSA for more than six months
• Lower taxes on businesses that employ more workers might be effective, for example cuts in employer national insurance contributions for young, low-paid workers

Changing the participation age

From 2013, young people in the UK will be required to continue in education or training until they turn 17 and from 2015 they will be required to continue in education or training until they turn 18.

Evaluation on Unemployment Policies

Unemployment policies are designed to

• Improve skills / human capital to make people more flexible in the workplace
• Provide stronger incentives to look for and accept work
• Increase the occupational and geographical mobility of labour
• Maintain a sufficiently high level of demand to create enough new jobs
• Encourage entrepreneurship and innovation as a way of creating new products and market demand which will generate new employment opportunities

There are always cyclical fluctuations in employment . If growth can be sustained it should be possible to create a steady flow of new jobs. There are always changes in the pattern of demand for different jobs – the labour force needs to be sufficiently flexible to deal and adjust to this.

An economic recovery creates new jobs; the issue is whether people in the labour market have the right skills, qualifications and experience to take them – many training schemes lead to qualifications which don't necessarily help people back into work.

Demand and supply-side policies need to work in tandem for unemployment to fall. Simply boosting demand if the root cause of unemployment is structural is an ineffective way of tackling the problem. If demand is stimulated too much, the main risk is rising inflation

Full-employment does not mean zero unemployment! There will always be some frictional unemployment – it may be useful to have a small surplus pool of labour available. Most economists argue that there will always be some frictional unemployment of perhaps 2-3% of the labour force.

There are still large regional differences in unemployment levels which causes significant economic and external costs. Urban and regional regeneration can take decades to achieve

Policies for Reducing Unemployment – Key Themes

• Boosting human capital - education and training - a long run strategy to make the workforce more employable and to raise the level of labour productivity
• Lower employment taxes to increase labour demand - for example, a reduction in national insurance contributions
• Stimulus to demand from both the public and private sector - keeping aggregate demand high to drive the creation of new jobs
• Improved export competitiveness to provide an injection of demand into the circular flow of income
• Improving work incentives - making work pay to reduce benefit dependency and expand the size of the labour supply

Raising the total level of employment is an important aim of labour market policies. The UK economy has seen some success in this regard in the last few years.

Find more statistics at Statista

• Unemployment
• Structural unemployment
• Unemployment Trap
• Seasonal unemployment
• Frictional unemployment

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How can technology reduce youth unemployment?

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The digital economy has taken over our world. Upstarts like Uber, Airbnb, Kickstarter and Square are proving that we live in a world where technology pioneers and the monetisation of disruptive technologies win consumers over with innovative thinking.

This raises the question of how such market solutions can be used to tackle some of society’s most pressing issues – specifically, the  60% of young people in developing regions who are either unemployed, not studying, or engaged in irregular employment, according to  ILO . Africa is a prominent example of this, with its exploding youth population.

Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, suggests that the number of young people between the ages 15 and 24 in Africa will double from 200 million to 400 million by 2045. It is estimated that 200 million youth will enter the formal sector, which is a great opportunity given that new ways of employment are created by private sectors as a priority. Sadly, based on current projections, only 3-5 million jobs will be created for the 10-12 million youth eligible to enter the formal economy annually, leaving approximately half of these youth with little prospect for employment. I suggest that technology can be used to turn the tide on the continued economic marginalization of the youth.

The digital economy promises a wealth of decision ready data at the fingertips of companies, governments and even international civil society organisations. What about the social entrepreneurs and small, but impactful, civil society organisations where limited tools are available?

In today’s economy, civil society organisations are left to relieve the pain felt by marginalized youth, women and children, while government points to the private sector to create the necessary jobs and the private sector in turn points to the government to create and implement the necessary policies to allow it to create jobs. But no one has asked which jobs must be created, for who, how and why – especially when it comes to tackling these inequalities.

Perhaps digital tools are able to provide insights and an understanding of the future of youth empowerment and employment. First, data collection (personal, market and other sources of big data) must be improved, and so must the analysis of that data. Finally, decision making must then be based on the employability, in terms of soft skill attributes, of the person. As digital tools become more efficient in solving daily productivity problems and become more adaptive to learned situations, we’ll progress to a stage where digital tools can be deployed to solve some of society’s greatest challenges, including unemployment and/or employability.

Youth unemployment and empowerment can be understood by gaining insight into the employability of individuals at scale – as youth empowerment initiatives can be quantified and best practises learnt and shared. Larger social media networks have been doing this for advertising since their inception, leading to extremely successful business models. Can the same practices not be applied to civil society organisations, by designing digital tools which effectively address their unique requirements?

What is being done

Private sector : Google and Richard Branson are trying new employment models where they employ 2 people part time instead of 1 person full time (more about that can be read here ). This allows the employee time to pursue other passions and personal interests, while the employer is able to reduce their staff overheads.

Coca Cola is pioneering a bold strategy to work out how to add value to their extensive business and supply chain network, through a programme called 5by20. 5by20 is The Coca-Cola Company’s global commitment to enable the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs across the company’s value chain by 2020. The programme is aimed at the small businesses the company works with in over 200 countries around the world. From fruit farmers to artisans, this initiative aims to help women overcome the barriers they face to business success. 5by20 and The Coca-Cola Company are proud to be giving millions of women opportunities to build their businesses, support their families and build their communities, while inspiring more to do the same.

Civil society: An increasing number of foundations and funds are turning their focus to youth networks that address their own problems in their own communities, tasking them to come up with solutions which they can support.

Another overlooked solution is placing youth with local civil society organisations, many of which seek support by means of volunteerism. This is arguably one of the most impactful ways to build social cohesiveness. To this effect, it has been proven in the  US and in the  UK that ‘volunteerism’ is able to increase a young person’s employability by up to 40%.

How the Global Shapers are using technology to solve this

After becoming a winner of the Global Shapers Community ‘Coca Cola Shaping a Better Future Challenge’ at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2014, the Cape Town Hub of the Global Shapers Community was able to successfully launch  The Social Collective , a Global Shaper Hub project turned for-profit technology start-up. This comes off the back of work the Hub was doing with some South African government agencies in providing a technology to increase and track the employability of young people, specifically through volunteering.

The Social Collective is now developing a digital Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tool which makes M&E more meaningful – to organisations and individuals – by providing specialist software and consulting services. Monitoring and Evaluation (reporting) is required by donors of civil society organisations, however few digital tools exist to increase productivity or programme management (from data collection to analysis), or for beneficiaries to track their personal development and employability gained through structured development programmes. The Social Collective responds to this need.

Many of the beneficiaries of civil society organisations are digitally engaged and are able to check in with their friends on a daily basis via social media. However, civil society organisations still have issues tracking and getting feedback from the same individuals (from programme managers to beneficiaries).

As a digital tool which is available on mobile phone and even via SMS, The Social Collective gives civil society organisations access to their data so that they can gain insight into the livelihood and personal, professional and independent development of individuals supported by their programmes, which gives rigour to intuition. Beneficiaries, on the other hand, can easily track the skills that they have acquired and the hours spent acquiring each skill. Then policymakers and the private sector can begin to answer the question: which jobs must be created, for who, how and why.

This article is published in collaboration with Global Shapers . Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with Forum:Agenda  subscribe to our weekly newsletter .

Author: Duncan Luke is founder of the Social Collective and a Global Shaper from the Cape Town Hub.

Image: Young visitors look at the bourse at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo March 3, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato.

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Unemployment Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on unemployment.

Unemployment is a very serious issue not only in India but in the whole world. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there who do not have employment . Besides, the problems of unemployment are very severe in India because of the growing population and demand for jobs. Moreover, if we neglect this problem then it will be going to become the reason for the doom of the nation.

What is Unemployment?

Unemployment refers to a situation in which a skilled and talented people wanted to do a job. But cannot find a proper job due to several reasons.

Types of Unemployment

Now we know what is unemployment but unemployment does not only mean that the person does not have a job. Likewise, unemployment also includes people working in areas out of their expertise.

The various types of unemployment include disguised unemployment, seasonal unemployment, open unemployment, technological unemployment, structural unemployment. Besides, some other unemployment is cyclic unemployment, educated unemployment, underemployment, frictional unemployment, chronic unemployment, and casual unemployment.

Above all, seasonal unemployment, under unemployment, and disguised unemployment are the most common unemployment that is found in India.

Reasons for Unemployment

In a country like India, there is much reason for a large section of the population for being unemployed. Some of these factors are population growth, slow economic growth , seasonal occupation, slow growth of the economic sector, and fall in the cottage industry.

Moreover, these are the major reason for unemployment in India. Also, the situation has become so drastic that highly educated people are ready to do the job of a sweeper. Besides, the government is not doing his work seriously.

Apart from all these, a large portion of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector and the sector only provides employment in harvest or plantation time.

In addition, the biggest reason of unemployment in India is its vast population which demands a large number of jobs every year which the government and authorities are unable to provide.

Consequences of Unemployment

If things will go on like the current scenario then unemployment will become a major issue. Apart from this, the following things happen in an economy which is an increase in poverty, an increase in crime rate, exploitation of labor, political instability, mental health, and loss of skills. As a result, all this will eventually lead to the demise of the nation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Initiative by Government

The government has taken the problem very seriously and have taken measures to slowly reduce unemployment. Some of these schemes includes IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme), DPAP (Drought Prone Area Programme), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Employment Assurance Scheme, NRY (Nehru Rozgar Yojana), Training for self-Employment, PMIUPEP (Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Program), employment exchange, Employment Guarantee Scheme, development of organized sector, small and cottage industries, employment in forging countries, and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana and few more.

Besides, these schemes the government also make some rules flexible, so that employment can be created in the private sector also.

To conclude, we can say that the problem of unemployment in India has reached a critical stage. But, now the government and local authorities have taken the problem seriously and working on it to reduce unemployment. Also, to completely solve the issue of unemployment we have to tackle the main issue of unemployment that is the vast population of India.

FAQs about Unemployment

Q.1 Why there is a problem of unemployment in India? A.1 Due to overpopulation and lack of proper skills there is a problem of unemployment in India.

Q.2 Define Disguised unemployment? A.2 Disguised unemployment refers to a form of employment in which more than the required numbers of people work in industry or factory. And removing some employee will not affect productivity.

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Commentary | Economic Growth

Addressing the unemployment problem | EPI Viewpoints

Commentary • September 19, 2002

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Opinion pieces and speeches by EPI staff and associates.

THIS TESTIMONY WAS PRESENTED BY EPI PRESIDENT LARRY MISHEL BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS, ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002

ddressing the unemployment problem

by Larry Mishel

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our nation’s current employment and unemployment. As you know, unemployment has been rising fairly steadily since October 2000, rising from 3.9 percent to its current level of 5.7 percent, with 8.1 million workers unemployed. Although the economy has been growing in 2002, the growth has not been strong enough to create jobs and keep unemployment from rising. We now have 1.7 percent fewer private sector jobs than in October 2000. Moreover, current slow growth will generate few jobs and will lead unemployment to grow further – perhaps to 6.5 percent or more – and to remain near or above 6 percent for at least another year.

The nation, thus, has a serious, persistent jobs and unemployment problem that will not go away on its own and should be addressed in two ways. First, we need to cushion the impact of this recession on those directly affected. Second, we need to generate growth by stimulating demand – that is, by creating more customers for business. The fastest, most effective way to do this is by boosting government spending quickly and for the next year of so. Extending unemployment insurance and improving the unemployment insurance system will both assist those in need and stimulate demand quickly.

Today’s job situation The Bureau of Labor Statistics just released its survey on employment and unemployment for August 2002. Unemployment stands at 8.1 million, 5.7 percent of the labor force. Although 39,000 jobs were created last month, the number of private sector jobs did not expand and is now 1.8 million jobs, or 1.7 percent, lower than in October 2000. I believe, with many other economists, that last month’s 0.2 percent drop in unemployment is a temporary dip that will be followed by a ratcheting up of unemployment over the near term.

It is true that today’s unemployment rate is relatively low compared to the unemployment reached in the recessions over the last thirty years (although it is sizeable relative to those of the 1950-73 period). There are four reasons, however, not to be complacent: unemployment will rise further; our target for unemployment should be 4 percent; the current level of umemployment has significant adverse consequences; and, when average unemployment is at its current levels some segments of the workforce experience very high unemployment.

The important point about today’s unemployment is that it is 1.8 percent higher than the 3.9 percent rate we had just two years ago, an increase equivalent to 2.6 million more unemployed workers. Although an unemployment rate of 5.5-6 percent used to be considered acceptable, and any lower rate considered potentially inflationary, we now know that this conventional wisdom was and is wrong. The late 1990s have reestablished that 4 percent is the proper benchmark target for unemployment, one that facilitates broad-based noninflationary growth. The costs to families of having unemployment higher than 4 percent are substantial, as discussed below. Unfortunately, despite last month’s dip in unemployment, I expect unemployment to rise over the next six months and to stay near or above 6.0 percent, throughout 2003.

The explanation is simple. In order for the unemployment rate to drop, the economy must grow faster than the sum of productivity plus labor force growth. This is because productivity growth allows us to generate more goods and services without expanding employment and the economy needs to continuously absorb new workers (recent high school or college graduates and other “new entrants” or “reentrants”). Since the long-term productivity trend is from 2.0 to 2.5 percent and the labor force trend is 1.0 percent, the economy must grow at least 3.0 to 3.5 percent just to keep unemployment from rising . It takes a growth rate of 4.0 to 4.5 percent for unemployment to drop 0.5 percent.

Even though the economy began growing over the last three quarters, growth has been so slow (0.1 percent, 1.4 percent, 2.1 percent) that very few jobs have been created and unemployment has risen giving us the ingredients of a “jobless recovery.” The unemployment rate would have grown further if the labor force had expanded at its recent historical rate. We estimate that the current recession in the labor market has kept roughly 2.2 million people from seeking employment – a group not captured in the unemployment rate. Had just half of the workers in this “hidden unemployment” been in the labor force, the current unemployment rate would be close to 6.5 percent.

There are several reasons why I expect unemployment to grow. First, the impact of the recent slow growth has not yet been fully felt, since unemployment “lags” behind growth. Second, growth is forecast at the 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent rate through the end of this year and at about 3.5 percent for next year, a growth rate not sufficient to achieve a 4 percent unemployment rate anytime in the next few years. This is the conclusion of the both the CBO and the Blue Chip consensus. In fact, The Blue Chip survey finds that two-thirds of the forecasters do not believe that unemployment has peaked. Moreover, forecasters expect unemployment to peak at 6.2 percent, 0.5 percent more than today’s rate. Third, unemployment will be higher than is typically forecast. That’s because if and when growth accelerates, we can expect the labor force will resume its more rapid expansion, making up for the very slow labor force growth (especially in the share of the adult population in the labor force) over the last two years. For instance, from July 2001 to July 2002 the labor force grew by just 0.5 percent, in contrast to the expected growth of 1%. My conclusion, I am sorry to say, is that the unemployment situation will grow worse before it gets better and unemployment will stay high through 2003.

It is also important to note that the national unemployment rate is an average that conceals low unemployment among some groups but very high unemployment among others. Therefore, complacency in the face of roughly 6.0 percent unemployment is inappropriate. For instance, the unemployment rate has averaged 5.8 percent over the last three months. This includes groups with unemployment rates that are low: professionals and managers, 3.1 percent; college graduates, 2.8 percent; and government workers, 2.4 percent. Other groups, however, have very high unemployment rates such as construction workers (9.6 percent), those with less than a high school degree (8.4 percent); and blue-collar operatives and laborers (8.7 percent). Especially, notable is the higher unemployment rates of minorities, with blacks at 10.1 percent and Hispanics at 7.5 percent. Most worrisome is that some disadvantaged groups, such as young (ages 16-25) black men and women with a high school degree have unemployment rates of roughly 24 percent. This is especially relevant to concerns about the success of welfare policy in the current environment, since high unemployment and underemployment in the low wage labor market obviously impedes former welfare recipients from getting and maintaining employment.

Higher unemployment has had, and will continue to have an adverse impact on working families. The impact of the recession obviously falls hardest on those who become unemployed. Less well appreciated is that the unemployment rate does not adequately reflect the number of workers who become unemployed at some ti me during the year, a number two to three times as large as the number who are unemployed at any one point in time. As unemployment rises so does underemployment, including, for example, workers in part-time jobs who want full-time jobs, workers in temporary jobs who want permanent, regular jobs and those working at jobs for which they are overqualified.

Higher unemployment also affects those who remain employed by leading to slower wage growth. Wages are still growing faster than inflation but at only half the pace of a few years ago (at roughly 1 percent rather than 2 percent real growth). Wage growth has decelerated the most for low-wage workers whose wages are now barely keeping up with inflation. The wage growth among middle-wage men has also been substantially reduced. Consequently, we are now seeing a renewal of the trend of a widening of the wage gap between low and middle-wage workers, as well as the continued growth in the wage gap between high-wage and middle-wage workers. In other words, the recession is reestablishing the trend toward an across-the-board growth in wage inequalities, something we haven’t seen since the mid-1990s. The bottom line is that higher unemployment is lowering family incomes — by $1,800 this year for a middle-income family — and leading to wider inequalities.

Another way to understand the costs of high unemployment is by examining the benefits of the period of low unemployment that prevailed from 1995 to 2000. We saw broad-based real wage growth for the first time in two decades. Job quality improved as health insurance and pension coverage improved, part-time work diminished, self-employment shrank, and the need to work two or more jobs declined. Family incomes rose across the board and the income and wage gaps by race shrank for the first time in years. All of this is to say, we certainly miss those days of low unemployment and we need to get back to them as quickly as possible.

Characteristics of the current recession Several characteristics of the current recession are noteworthy. In particular, compared to earlier recessions: the private sector job loss has been more severe; the rise in unemployment has been broadly shared by gender and education; and, college graduate unemployment has risen more. Plus, there has been an usually large increase in the duration of unemployment – how long people stay unemployed – as witnessed by the historically large share of the unemployed who are officially designated as “long-term” unemployed – meaning they have been out of work for at least 26 weeks.

Some analysts have labeled this recession as shallow because of the relatively small decline in economic output and the relatively low increase in unemployment. What has not been noticed, however, is that there has been an even more severe loss of private sector jobs in this downturn than in previous ones. The decline in private employment — 1.7 percent, or 1,833,000 jobs — is larger at this point in the cycle than in the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s. This reflects the severe loss of manufacturing jobs and the stagnant growth of private sector service jobs. Increased employment by government is a singular bright spot. The private sector job loss is the downside of the relatively fast productivity growth we have enjoyed.

The increase in unemployment has been more uniform in this recession, affecting a broader array of the workforce. The unemployment rate has grown comparably among those with “some college'” a high school degree and those without a high school degree. In contrast, unemployment in prior recessions rose much more among those with less education. Unemployment among women has risen almost as much as among men, a stark contrast with earlier recessions, which more strongly affected men. This gender pattern reflects the heavy job losses in the female-intensive service industries. It is interesting to note, in this regard, that the unemployment rate among college graduates has risen more than in the early 1990s and is on par with the much steeper increase during the early 1980s recession.

There is one way that this recession’s impact is more narrowly focused – those who became unemployed tend to stay unemployed longer. In August there were 1,474,000 unemployed who had been out of work for more than twenty-six weeks, comprising 18.1 percent of the unemployed. This is a larger share of the unemployed than at this point in the business cycle in the 1970s and 1990s but less so than in the early 1980s recession (Figure A). This longer-term unemployment suggests a greater mismatch between the types of jobs available and the types of workers that are unemployed. Obviously, an increase in long-term unemployment suggests the continued need for extended benefits in the unemployment insurance system.

Policy targets: stocks and employment It is understandable that there has been much media discussion of the fall of stock prices over the last few months, with the Dow falling 10.4 percent, the NASDAQ falling 14.5 percent and the S&P 500 falling 10.4 percent since June. Yet, economic policy should not target getting stock prices back up as a goal, even though the losses are painful to some. Besides the fact that stock prices were probably inflated and unsustainable, the government should not be in the business of providing a safety net to stockholders.

There are many reasons that economic and budget policy should not focus on the stock market. First, we do not have a basis for establishing what the correct level of stock prices should be – the target. Second, we do not understand well what moves the stock market. Third, the government does not have effective tools to affect the stock market. Fourth, there is no clear connection between a rising stock market and the economic well-being of the vast majority, as a rising stock market can be consistent with improving or declining family incomes and real wages. Last, contrary to popular belief, the stock market has not been a source of investment funds – companies have used more cash to buy stock than they have received from selling stock. Consequently, the government should structure and regulate the stock market so as to generate accurate financial information and transparency but leave the value of the stock market to supply and demand forces.

On the other hand, at a time of high and rising unemployment it is not only appropriate, it is also necessary for government economic policy to focus on job generation and putting the economy on a track to achieve 4 percent unemployment. It is easy to establish the size of the existing “job gap” – the difference between the number of job openings and the number of unemployed – using the new JOLTS data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as shown in Figure B. In December 2000, the earliest data, there were roughly 5.2 million unemployed and 4.0 million job openings – a gap of 1.2 million jobs. By August 2001 – before the terrorist attack – the job gap grew to 3.1 million as job openings slipped by 0.2 million and the unemployed grew by 2.0 million. The latest data, for June 2002, show a further 0.6 million decline in job openings and a further 1.2 million growth of unemployed workers, leaving a total job gap of 5.4 million jobs. As of June 2002, there were 2.67 unemployed workers for every job opening.

What’s needed-more customers The Administration is correct in one important sense in saying that the economy’s fundamentals are good. That is, we are enjoying a relatively fast growth in productivity even during this recession, a continuation of a trend that began in 1996. The long-term productivity growth rate is now estimated to be 2.0 to 2.5 percent, which is 0.5 to 1.0 percent greater than the roughly 1.5 percent trend over the 1973-95. Thus, one problem we do not seem to be having is improving our efficiency.

The problem we face is that businesses do not have enough customers – they need more sales. As sales rise, so will profits and so will the number of workers hired. Investment in plants and equipment will follow. In economic terms, we have excess supply – plenty of available workers and productive capacity (industry is now working at 76.1 percent capacity, down from 81.8 percent in 2000) – but insufficient demand . Therefore, to achieve a stronger cyclical recovery we need mechanisms to quickly increase expenditures by government consumers (both foreign and domestic). That is, we need a short-term (over the next two years) boost to demand .

From 1996 to mid-2000, demand was growing at a 3.5 to 4.5 percent pace but fell to a 1.5 percent pace over the last five quarters because consumption growth slowed, investment fell and net exports declined. In order to lower unemployment by 1.5 percent over the next two years – a modest goal that gets us close to the 4 percent unemployment rate target – we will need to increase overall growth 1.5 percent each year for the next two years – 3 percent more growth overall.

There are two means to do this. One would be to gradually lower the value of the dollar through a policy coordinated with other advanced countries and using lower interest rates. This would lead to greater exports and fewer imports, thereby boosting the manufacturing sector. This is an important policy but not one that directly involves congressional legislation.

The other mechanism to boost demand is to increase government expenditures without raising taxes or having offsetting cuts in other programs. This will require extra spending of $100 billion in each of the next two years. To be clear, this extra spending must be associated with an increase in the fiscal deficit over the next two years in order for these new expenditures to add to demand. However, the increase in expenditures and the accompanying deficits need not, and should not, create long-term fiscal imbalances. Thus, the characteristic of a short-term spending stimulus is that the expenditures decline and then disappear as unemployment falls. It is possible to implement an ongoing spending plan if it is paid for by bringing in more revenues after the first two years. Preventing the future execution of the planned tax cuts and retaining the estate tax can help offset the costs of higher spending implemented now, allowing policymakers to achieve long-term fiscal solvency.

It is also possible to increase short-term demand through consumer-oriented tax cuts. The tax cuts being discussed by the Administration, however, are permanent and therefore raise deficits in both the short- and the long-term. They are also not consumer-oriented. In fact, many of the tax cuts are oriented toward increasing saving, which would decrease rather than increase demand. The proposed tax cuts are thus wrongly timed (permanent rather than short term) and incorrectly targeted (at increasing saving rather than consumer spending).

Another advantage of spending over tax cuts is that with tax cuts there is leakage to savings and imports, which do not increase domestic demand. That is, part of tax cuts received by households will be saved rather than spent and any consumer spending generated by tax cuts is more likely to go to imports than will government spending on infrastructure, school repair or government services.

Unemployment insurance: softening the blows, stimulating demand Unemployment insurance plays two critical roles in the U.S. economy. It forms the first line of defense against income lost during periods of unemployment and it provides an automatic stimulus during periods of economic decline by sustaining consumption and therefore demand. By extending benefits for the long-term unemployed and improving eligibility to incorporate more workers into the system, policymakers can both cushion the impact of a recession on individuals and provide a counter-cyclical stimulus that will moderate the recession. Thus, a package of unemployment reforms should be part of any stimulus plan.

Softening the blow of unemployment The current unemployment insurance system is an important but weak safety net. From the worker’s perspective there are few if any protections from lay-off. While some may be eligible for generous severance packages, most workers rely on income from unemployment insurance once they lose a job. The unemployment insurance program has weaknesses, but overall it has worked remarkably well since its creation in 1935. Research indicates that in the absence of unemployment insurance benefits many families would quickly descend into poverty. For moderate income households, unemployment insurance benefits lifted 20 percent of these households out of poverty (Danziger and Gottschalk, 1990). Nearly one-third of workers are unable to replace even ten percent of their lost income from savings, while those who receive unemployment insurance benefits draw down their savings and assets more slowly (Gruber 2002).

While unemployment insurance benefits are a much-needed palliative measure for those unfortunate enough to lose a job, they do not provide enough income for families to make ends meet. On average a single working parent with two children falls $1,317 short each month of the amount of money needed to maintain a minimal, no-frills living standard. A two-parent household with one parent unemployed and the other employed part-time at the median wage falls short of their family budget by $334 per month (Boushey & Wenger 2001). While unemployment insurance is very helpful it is not overly generous.

Currently, only 48 percent of workers who become unemployed will receive unemployment insurance. Those who receive UI can expect to remain unemployed for 14.7 weeks and receive $254 per week in benefits.

Unemployment insurance as stimulus The second benefit that comes from unemployment insurance is its effect on the macro-economy. Unemployment insurance acts as an automatic stabilizer – injecting money into the economy as the labor market wanes and unemployment increases. During periods of low unemployment and economic expansion unemployment insurance benefits naturally decline and trust fund balances are increased. Thus, the program injects spending into the economy when the economy is weak and takes out spending when the economy is strong. Improvement in the system will not create long-term fiscal imbalances.

The stabilizing role of unemployment insurance is considerable; research by Chimerine et al. (1999:6) indicates that the unemployment insurance program “mitigated the loss in real GDP by about 15 percent over all the quarters in each recession.” Moreover, and importantly, the authors indicate that the effect of unemployment insurance in the 1990 recession was more robust than in the 1980’s recession. This was likely due in large part to the extended benefits program passed by the 102nd Congress in 1992.

Other research has concluded that unemployment insurance plays an important role in stabilizing the economy. Von Furtenburg (1976), Dunson et al. (1990), Uri, et al. (1989), and Vroman (1998) all find that increases in unemployment are met with commensurate increases in UI expenditures and that these expenditures result in significant economic stimulus during periods of economic decline.

The importance of the unemployment insurance system on macro-economic performance has been well documented. However, with the exception of the 1990-1991 recession, the policy and demographic changes have reduced the availability and generosity of unemployment insurance benefits – weakening its effect as a stabilizer. In particular, recipiency rates have declined from the late 1970’s. During 1975, the year of peak unemployment in the 1970s, the recipiency rate averaged 75 percent 1 . During 1992, at the end of the last recession, when unemployment peaked, the UI recipiency rate was 52 percent. Currently the percent age of unemployed workers receiving UI benefits is 48 percent.

Low levels of unemployment insurance eligibility are problematic for particular groups of workers. First and fo remost, the lowest earners have a difficult time qualifying for UI benefits. These workers often earn low wages and have periodic interruptions in employment. As a consequence, many of them fail to earn sufficient income or work enough hours to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits. This means that many new entrants to the labor force, in particular women who previously received welfare, will be unable to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits.

The second group of workers who have limited access to unemployment insurance are workers employed on a part-time basis. These workers, most of whom are women, make up 20 percent of the US labor force as of July 2002. The earnings from these jobs comprise nearly 30 percent of household income – a significant loss of income should a part-time worker lose a job. Yet most part-time workers are ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits. Research indicates that only 17 states have rules allowing part-time workers to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits. (Wenger, McHugh & Segal 2002)

Apart from the problem of access are ongoing problems of recipients who exhaust benefits prior to finding a job. During first quarter of 2002, 36.9 percent of UI benefit recipients ran out of regular benefits, making them eligible for federal extended benefits (Tier 1 TEUC – Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation). TEUC allowed many workers to receive as many as 13 weeks of additional benefits. It is estimated that 60 percent of those on extended benefits will exhaust their benefits before finding work. Currently, over one million people have exhausted all of their UI benefits.

The UI system of the United States should be significantly expanded to better serve all of the unemployed. Not only would this serve the interests of the families who have experienced job loss, but it would serve as a well-targeted and highly effective economic stimulus.

Offsetting the state fiscal crisis There has been a larger shortfall in state budgets in this recession than in earlier recessions, according to the National Governors Association. States are drawing down their reserves and cutting spending and raising taxes in order to balance their budgets. Unfortunately, when states raise taxes and reduce services they reduce the overall demand for goods and services, thereby exacerbating the recession. The layoffs and spending reductions also curtail many needed services. A very useful way to restore demand in the economy would be to provide fiscal relief to state (and local) governments. This is administratively easy to do- it would take a staff of twenty-five to distribute $50 billion of fiscal relief to the states. This would also have an immediate impact, as plans to cut programs, raise taxes, or execute layoffs would be suspended.

School renovation There is wide agreement that there’s a need to improve and expand school infrastructure. The GAO estimated the need for school repairs at $112 billion dollars in 1995. The problem has only gotten worse. There are existing programs that can be used to quickly expand school repair activity. One mechanism is to expand the repair fund program of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Given that many school districts are currently curtailing planned repairs, any new funding for this purpose can be implemented quickly. Another mechanism is to expand federal funding of the Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program, which provides tax credits toward the interest on school construction bonds. We could expand school repair by $10 to $20 billion annually through these programs and not only increase spending and accelerate the recovery but also address a much needed investment shortfall in our schools.

Conclusion The jobs and unemployment situation will only worsen as slow growth leads to higher unemployment, driving us further from achieving a much-needed goal of returning to 4 percent unemployment. The cost of the higher unemployment is lost wages and incomes to workers and their families, a further widening of inequalities, an inhospitable environment for welfare reform and the social costs of greater crime and worsened health. It is critical that policymakers address the unemployment problem by seeking a measured decline in the value of the dollar and through various temporary spending measures of about $100 billion each year for the next two years.

1Data from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration and the Green Book , published by the Ways and Means Committee of the United States House of Representatives.

Boushey, H. and J.B. Wenger (2001). Coming Up Short Issue Brief 169. Washington DC: Economic Policy Institute.

Chimerine, L., T.S. Black, and L. Coffey. (1999). Unemployment Insurance as an Automatic Stabilizer: Evidence of Effectiveness Over Three Decades. Unemployment Insurance Occasional Paper 99-8. Washington DC. US Department of Labor.

Danziger, Sheldon & Peter Gottschalk. (1990). Unemployment Insurance and the Safety Net for the Unemployed. in W.L. Hansen & J.F. Byers (eds.) Unemployment Insurance: The Second Half Century. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press

Dunson, B. S.C. Maurice, and G. Dwyer. (1991). The Cyclical Effects of the Unemployment (UI) Program. Unemployment Insurance Occasional Paper 91-3, Washington D.C.: US Department of Labor.

Gruber, J. (2001). The Wealth of the Unemployed,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 55(1): 79-94 Uri, N.D., J.W. Mixon, B.L. Kyer. (1989). Automatic Stabilizers Reconsidered. Public Finance. 44(3):476-91 von Furstenberg, G.M. (1976). Stabilization Characteristics of Unemployment Insurance. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 29:363-76

Vroman, W. (1991). The Decline in Unemployment Insurance Claims Activity in the 1980s. Unemployment Insurance Occasional Paper 91-21, Washington DC: US Department of Labor.

Vroman, W. (1998). Labor Market Changes an Unemployment Insurance Benefit Availabilty. Report prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor under Contract No. F-5532-5-00-80-30.

Wandner, S.A. & A. Stettner. (2000). Whare are many jobless workers not applying for benefits? Monthly Labor Review. 123(6): 21-32

Wenger, J.B, R. McHugh and N. Segal. (2002) Part-Time Work and Unemployment Insurance. Indicators: The Journal of Social Health. 1(4):1-13

[ POSTED TO VIEWPOINTS ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2002 ]

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Best Employment Essay Examples

Solutions to the problem of unemployment.

998 words | 4 page(s)

Introduction

Unemployment can be described as the state of being jobless (Leiserson, 2016). The issue has become a crucial concern lately to the extent of even compelling nations to develop frameworks that could be employed to lay a foundation for a sustainable solution. It is in that regard that various intervention measures have been proposed to address the issue. Analysts have been affirmative that the fact that unemployment is caused by human activities means that there are pending solutions that can be developed to address the issue.

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Counterargument The problem of unemployment is difficult to address. Countries have been spending resources and time to pull together different ideas that can resolve the issue with no apparent success. In addition to that, a majority of the economic structures of countries do not offer a good platform for developing measures that assist in creating employment opportunities. “There is no evidence for the effects of unemployment being moderated” (Cunradi, 2012). That means that there are no workable solutions that can be developed and redirected to address then concern. Solutions to the issue of unemployment.

Unemployment has grown into a major socio-economic problem in most world countries (Leiserson, 2016). Apparently, various solutions have been proved useful in as far as providing a robust solution is concerned. Perhaps, it is high time that governments and states should encourage people to venture into innovative sectors such as business activities because it can assist in creating employment opportunities. Apart from that, amongst all the economic activities, industrialization should be prioritized because it provides a remarkable platform for providing employment.

Governments and states should also provide private firms with opportunities for establishing and consequently operating to their full potentials because it can assist in providing job opportunities. Analysts have been affirmative that it is easier for people to find new working opportunities in private companies compared to government agencies thus allowing private sectors to operate with more freedom will prove critical in as far as addressing unemployment issues are concerned. “Unemployment in the United States presents itself today not as a question for theoretical discussion, but as a problem for political and administrative action” (Leiserson, 2016). That means that governments, states, and all economic stakeholders should invest in research studies that can lay a foundational platform for coming up with new ideologies that can help to address the problem of unemployment. Measures should also be imperatively put in place to readjust the education system to incorporate innovativeness because it can assist in providing alternative employment pathways.

Unemployed people should be enlightened about the relevance of taking every job opportunity that is likely to come on their way. Consequently, it has been a typical behavior for a majority of the people who have graduated from college to become selective in choosing between different work positions preferring white collar jobs on end. “Different conceptualizations lead to different evaluations of the same changes in welfare schemes” (Green-Pedersen, 2014). That means that educating the masses will assist in changing their perceptions a great deal. Focus should also be redirected at addressing social evils such as corruption because it leads to the embezzlement of funds that could be redirected at developing job opportunities. Furthermore, unemployment can be solved by establishing a framework that will foresee the retirement age being minimized to reasonable levels to pave the way for the graduates and other groups of fresh energy from college.

Countries should also consider investing in people who are self-employed to provide technical training to their counterparts who have no jobs. The absence of sufficient employment opportunities has been the primary cause of the establishment of individual ventures such as trading activities (Jones, 2012). For that reason, countries and states should designate resources that could be used to support and consequently encourage people who have been innovative enough to establish work opportunities. Additionally, the fact that the core objective of governments of countries is to bolster its production capabilities alongside creating jobs for the people means that laws should be developed to necessitate the implementation of ideas that can help to create employment opportunities.

It is also important that the approaches and beliefs that are used to address the issue of unemployment are changed. Jones (2012) argues that what makes the problem of unemployment increase daily is that “this belief in an unreachable policy may be damaging to social work’s clients because it results in inattention to alternative solutions to unemployment” (Jones, 2012). That means that the development of small cottage industries alongside redirecting investment activities on agriculture and other forms of production should also be encouraged because it will lay a remarkable platform for the establishment of employment opportunities. Other programs such as rural electrification can also provide the people with the necessary tools that they can use to come with new job opportunities. Finally, it is evidently justified that unemployment goes in handy with an increase in population. Thus, developing measures that can be used to educate the people about the significance of population control will be highly welcomed.

Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperatively clear that a lot can be done to address the issue of unemployment. Consequently, it has been tough to come up with useful frameworks that can be implemented to solve the problem. However, cooperation between different stakeholders will prove crucial in as far as the provision of solid solutions will be concerned (Jones, 2012). In fact, it is high time that research studies should be developed to pave the way for investing in sectors that can help to address the problem of unemployment.

• Cunradi, Carol B., et al. “Problem drinking, unemployment, and intimate partner violence among a sample of construction industry workers and their partners.” Journal of Family Violence 24.2 (2012): 63-74.
• Green-Pedersen, Christoffer. “The dependent variable problem within the study of welfare state retrenchment: Defining the problem and looking for solutions.” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice6.1 (2014): 3-14.
• Jones, Loring. “The full employment myth: Alternative solutions to unemployment.” Social Work 37.4 (2012): 359-364.
• Leiserson, William M. “The problem of unemployment today.” Political Science Quarterly 31.1 (2016): 1-24.

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Suggestions to Solve Unemployment Problem

Following are the suggestions to solve unemployment problem :

(i) Change in industrial technique:

Production technique should suit the needs and means of the country. It is essential that labour intensive technology should be encouraged in place of capital intensive technology.

(ii) Policy regarding seasonal unemployment:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Seasonal unemployment is found in agriculture sector and agro based industries.

To remove it:

(a) Agriculture should have multiple cropping,

(b) Plantations, horticulture, dairying and animal husbandry should be encouraged,

(c) Cottage industries should be encouraged.

(iii) Change in education system:

Educational pattern should be completely changed. Students who have liking for higher studies should be admitted in colleges and universities. Emphasis should be given on vocational education. Qualified engineers should start their own small units.

(iv) Expansion of Employment exchanges:

More employment exchanges should be opened. Information regarding employment opportunities should be given to people.

(v) More assistance to self employed people:

Most people in India are self employed. They are engaged in agriculture, trade, cottage and small scale industries etc. These persons should be helped financially, providing raw materials and technical training.

(vi) Full and more productive employment:

The main objective of county’s employment policy should be to increase employment opportunities and productivity of labour. Govt. should adopt a policy that provides employment to all people.

(vii) Increase in Production:

To increase employment, it is essential to increase production in agriculture and industrial sectors. Development of small and cottage industries should be encouraged.

(viii) More importance to employment programmes:

In five year plans more importance should be given to employment. The programmes like irrigation, roads, flood control, power, agriculture, rural electrification can provide better employment to people.

(ix) High rate of capital formation:

Rate of capital formation in the country should be accelerated. Capital formation should be particularly encouraged in such activities which generate greater employment opportunities. Capital output ratio should be kept low.

(x) Industries in co-operative sector:

Industries in co-operative sector should be encouraged. Kerala Govt.’ set up a textile mill covering 600 unemployed persons on co-operative basis. This is a novel approach to fight against unemployment. Different State Govt. should take necessary steps in this direction.

(xi) Decentralisation of industrial activity:

Decentralisation of Industrial activity is necessary to reduce unemployment. If industrial activities are centralised at one place, there will be less employment opportunities in the under developed areas. So Govt. should adopt such policies which encourage decentralisation of industrial activity.

(xii) Population control:

The growth of population should be checked in order to solve unemployment, problem. Family planning programme should be implemented widely and effectively.

Related Articles:

• Main Causes of Unemployment in India
• Suggestions for Removal of Poverty from India
• Industrial Policy of 1956: 8 Main features of 1956 Policy
• 5 Causes of Stagnancy in Occupational Pattern of India

Explain the measures to solve unemployment problems.

Following are the measures to solve the unemployment problem (i) the government should try to control the population, so that the number of new entrants to the workforce can be reduced. (ii) the education system of india need to be reformed to address the problem of unemployment. the emphasis in education should shift from theory to practical. (iii) agricultural activities should be diversified into fisheries, cattle rearing, horticulture, etc. to generate income and employment opportunities. (iv) the government should take necessary steps to develop cottage and small industries, both in the rural, as well as, urban areas. these industries are labour intensive and employ more labour, per unit of capital..

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AI Prompt Engineering Isn’t the Future

• Oguz A. Acar

Asking the perfect question is less important than really understanding the problem you’re trying to solve.

Despite the buzz surrounding it, the prominence of prompt engineering may be fleeting. A more enduring and adaptable skill will keep enabling us to harness the potential of generative AI? It is called problem formulation — the ability to identify, analyze, and delineate problems.

Prompt engineering has taken the generative AI world by storm. The job, which entails optimizing textual input to effectively communicate with large language models, has been hailed by World Economic Forum as the number one “job of the future” while Open AI CEO Sam Altman characterized it as an “amazingly high-leveraged skill.” Social media brims with a new wave of influencers showcasing “magic prompts” and pledging amazing outcomes.

• Oguz A. Acar is a Chair in Marketing at King’s Business School, King’s College London.

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