Copyright 2002 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
Dayton Daily News
February 8, 2002 Friday CITY EDITION
LENGTH: 747 words
HEADLINE:
UNEMPLOYMENT-INSURANCE REVISIONS NEEDED;
Ohio's high eligibility standards harm poorest workers most
BYLINE: Zach Schiller
OTHER VOICES
BODY:
The recession is exposing flaws in Ohio's
unemployment-insurance system.
More than 800,000 unemployed Ohioans sought initial benefits last year, up 42
percent from the year before. The flood of claims has made itself felt in the
frustrating busy signals many applicants are getting when they call to file
their claims and in the mounting number of jobless whose benefits are running
out.
Last year, 80,264 people exhausted their benefits, which last up to 26 weeks.
That was nearly two-thirds more than a year earlier.
Meanwhile, many unemployed persons don't qualify for benefits in Ohio because
we have one of the strictest monetary eligibility standards in the country. To
qualify, Ohioans must earn 27.5 percent of the state's average weekly wage, or $172 a week, for at least 20 weeks.
Under these tight requirements, a worker making the minimum wage must work more
than 33 hours each week for 20 weeks to qualify. In every other state, someone
who works 20 hours a week all year at $8 an hour would qualify when laid off.
Not in Ohio. Many of those who left welfare to go to work won't earn enough to
receive benefits if they lose their jobs. Since the last hired are often the
first fired, those brought on in the flush
economy of the late 1990s are particularly vulnerable now.
Other nearby states, such as Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania, have much
lower earnings requirements. The high threshold helps explain why Ohio
consistently has seen a lower proportion of its jobless receive benefits than
in the nation as a whole.
The state also is among the most restrictive in granting benefits to those who
leave work for compelling personal reasons, such as to care for a sick family
member.
A proposal that would have remedied this last problem and boosted weekly
benefits was turned down in the U.S. Senate this week. So far, the federal
government hasn't acted to bolster unemployment
insurance benefits as it has done in past recessions.
Yet some other states are moving forward on their own with needed improvements.
California and Virginia have raised benefit levels, and the Wisconsin
Legislature just
approved an eight-week extension in benefits for those whose benefits run out
after 26 weeks. Hawaii passed a benefit extension last year. And Washington
state recently approved a program paying up to a year of benefits to many
displaced workers who are getting skills training.
Ohio should take some of the same steps. We can begin by ensuring that low-wage
workers have the same access to benefits that higher-paid workers do, and
allowing anyone who works 20 hours a week for 20 weeks in a year to qualify.
That would not only provide vital support to unemployed job seekers, it would
add purchasing power to the economy. A recent study for the U.S. Department of
Labor found that each dollar of unemployment-insurance benefits boosts the nation's
economic output by $2.15, making unemployment benefits important for the whole community.
Ohio can afford to improve its unemployment-insurance benefits, which are financed by employer taxes, not the state budget. The
state cut taxes more than most did during the 1990s boom. In fact, during the
last three calendar years, tens of thousands of employers paid no unemployment
taxes. Rates have begun to rise, but they have been below the national average
and almost certainly remain so.
Ohio's reserve fund, which held $1.88 billion as of the end of last year, has started to decline because more
workers have been unemployed and receiving benefits. However, the Ohio
Department of Job and Family Services has estimated that with a recession like
that in the early '90s, the fund still would remain more than solvent, with
nearly $1 billion.
If optimists are right and the economy strengthens in the next
few months, experts generally agree that unemployment will continue to rise
until much later. That includes Montgomery County, where 34,702 people filed
initial claims last year, up 62 percent from the year before.
Ohio needs to strengthen its unemployment-insurance system for those in immediate need and for the rest of us.
Zach Schiller is senior researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit
research institute in Cleveland. His report on the Ohio unemploy-ment-insurance system is available at the organization's Web site,
www.policymattersohio.org
TYPE: COMMENTARY
LOAD-DATE: February 9, 2002
