Study of Unemployment Insurance Exhaustees

The Study of Unemployment Insurance Exhaustees public use data (1998-2001) examine the characteristics, labor market experiences, unemployment insurance (UI) program experiences, and reemployment service receipt of UI recipients. In the study, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. compares the characteristics and experiences of individuals who exhaust their UI benefits with those who receive UI but do not exhaust benefits.

The study sample consists of UI recipients in 25 states who began their benefit year in 1998 and received at least one UI payment, and is nationally representative of UI exhaustees and nonexhaustees. The data come from the UI administrative records of the 25 sample states and telephone interviews conducted with a subsample of these UI recipients. Telephone interviews were conducted in English and Spanish between July 2000 and February 2001 using a two-stage process:

• For the first 16 weeks, all 25 participating states used mail, phone, and database methods to locate sample members, who were then asked to complete the survey.
• The second stage, conducted in 10 of the sample states, added field staff to help locate non-responding sample members.

The administrative data include the individual’s age, race, sex, weekly benefit amount, first and last payment date, the state where benefits were collected, and whether benefits were exhausted. The survey data contain individual level information about labor market and other activities from the time the person entered the UI system through the time of the interview. These data include:

• Information about the individual’s pre-UI jobs
• Recall expectations
• Up to 5 post-UI jobs
• Job search information
• Reemployment services received
• Education and training program participation
• Other income or assistance received
• Demographic information.

The administrative data file contains 27,568 observations and 23 variables, and the survey file contains 3,907 observations and 666 variables.