Does State Unemployment Insurance Modernization Explain the Trajectories of Economic Security Among Working Households? Longitudinal Evidence from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation

Although research has paid substantial attention to the impact of the Great Recession on the economic well-being of working households and the uneven economic recovery among different sociodemographic groups, limited research is available on the association between state-level unemployment insurance (UI) protection and household-level economic recovery during the postrecessionary years. Using nationally representative panel data from the 2008 survey of income and program participation, this study examined the relationship between state UI modernization and the growth trajectory of economic security among American working households. After controlling for state-level and household-level covariates, the results of the multilevel growth modeling showed that, on average, the state enactment of UI modernization provisions was associated with a faster improvement rate of household economic security over a five-and-a-half-year period. The findings have implications for future studies concerning UI provisions and household economic security.