HIGHLIGHTS
- Economic shifts and technology advancements present new challenges to US UI system.
- Abt leads UI research for DOL, enhancing system resilience with evidence.
- UIREP will provide evidence-based strategies to strengthen the UI system.
PROJECT
Unemployment Insurance Research and Evaluation Portfolio (UIREP)
The Challenge
Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), provides critical financial support for jobless workers. As shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, UI plays a vital role stabilizing the economy during crises. But the UI system is experiencing stress. Structural changes to the economy and technological advancements have introduced new challenges including eligibility for and access to UI benefits for a growing number of unemployed workers, new fraud risks, and uncertain funding to address them.
The Approach
Supporting DOL, Abt will lead the development and end-to-end management of the Unemployment Insurance Research and Evaluation Portfolio (UIREP) research agenda. Leveraging Abt’s expertise across UI-related topics ,research methods, and our diverse network of field experts, and partners, this work will identify evidence-based insights to better equip the UI system to address the challenges of the modern day labor market.
The Results
Abt’s leadership of the Unemployment Insurance Research and Evaluation Portfolio (UIREP) supports DOL’s objective to identify evidence based, practically applicable strategies that are communicated in ways that make them easy for practitioners and policymakers to incorporate in their decision making. Through this work Abt will also engage an array of institutions, building field capacity and understanding of the UI ecosystem and effective research approaches.