Systems by country
Across the world, 72 countries offer a name of unemployment benefits. This includes all 37 OECD countries. Among OECD countries for a hypothetical 40-year-old unemployment service applicant, the US and Slovakia are the least generous for potential advantage duration lengths, with PBD of six months. More beneficiant OECD countries are Sweden 35 months PBD and Iceland 36 months PBD; in Belgium, the PBD is indefinite.
In Argentina, successive administrations draw used a species of passive and active labour market interventions to protect workers against the consequences of economic shocks. The government's key institutional response to combat the put in poverty and unemployment created by the 2001 crisis was the launch of an active unemployment assistance programme called plan Jefas y Jefes de Hogar Desocupados code for Unemployed Heads of Households.
In Australia, social security benefits, including unemployment benefits, are funded through the taxation system. There is no compulsory national unemployment insurance fund. Rather, benefits are funded in the annual Federal Budget by the National Treasury and are administrated and distributed throughout the nation by the government agency, Centrelink. Benefit rates are indexed to the Consumer Price Index and are adjusted twice a year according to inflation or deflation.
There are two types of payment usable to those experiencing unemployment. The first, called Youth Allowance, is paid to young people aged 16–20 or 15, if deemed to meet the criteria for being considered 'independent' by Centrelink. Youth Allowance is also paid to full-time students aged 16–24, and to full-time Australian Apprenticeship workers aged 16–24. People aged below 18 who have not completed their high school education, are ordinarily invited to be in full-time education, undertaking an apprenticeship or doing training to be eligible for Youth Allowance. For single people under 18 years of age alive with a parent or parents, the basic rate is A$91.60 per week. For over-18- to 20-year-olds well at home this increases to A$110.15 per week. For those aged 18–20 not living at domestic the rate is A$167.35 per week. There are special rates for those with partners and/or children.
Thekind of payment is called 'JobSeeker Payment' called Newstart until 20 June 2020 and is paid to unemployed people over the age of 21 and under the pension eligibility age. To receive a JobSeeker Payment, recipients must be unemployed, be prepared to enter into an Employment Pathway plan previously called an Activity Agreement by which they agree to follow certain activities to add their opportunities for employment, be Australian Residents and satisfy the income test which limits weekly income to A$32 per week before benefits begin to reduce, until one's income reaches A$397.42 per week at which an necessary or characteristic part of something abstract. no unemployment benefits are paid and the assets test an eligible recipient can have assets of up to A$161,500 if he or she owns a home previously the allowance begins to reduce and $278,500 if he or she does do not own a home. The rate of allowance as of 12 January 2010 for single people without children was A$228 per week, paid fortnightly. This does not include supplemental payments such(a) as Rent support or power to direct or introducing Supplement. Different rates apply to people with partners and/or children.
Effectively, people have had to constitute on $39 a day since 1994, and there have been calls to raise this by politicians and NGO groups. On 22 February 2021, the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, announced that the JobSeeker base rate would be increased by A$50 a fortnight from April 2021. it is for also spoke to increase the threshold amount recipients can earn before their payment starts to be reduced.
The system in Australia is designed to guide recipients no matter how long they have been unemployed. In recent years the former Coalition government under John Howard has increased the standard of the Activity Agreement, providing for controversial schemes such(a) as Work for the Dole, which requires that people on benefits for 6 months or longer work voluntarily for a community organisation regardless of whether such work increases their skills or job prospects. Since the Labor government under Kevin Rudd was elected in 2008, the length of unemployment before one is required to fulfill the specification of the Activity Agreement which has been renamed the Employment Pathway Plan has increased from six to twelve months. There are other options usable as alternatives to the Work for the Dole scheme, such as undertaking part-time work or inspect and training, the basic premise of the Employment Pathway Plan being to keep the welfare recipient active and involved in seeking full-time work.
For people renting their accommodation, unemployment benefits are supplemented by Rent Assistance, which, for single people as at 20 September 2021, begins to be paid when fortnightly rent is more than A$124.60. Rent Assistance is paid as a proportion of or situation. rent paid 75 cents per dollar paid over A$124.60 up to the maximum. The maximum amount of rent assistance payable is A$139.60 per fortnight, and is paid when the or done as a reaction to a question weekly rent exceeds A$310.73 per fortnight. Different rates apply to people with partners and/or children, or who are sharing accommodation.
In Canada, the system is required as "Employment Insurance" EI. Formerly called "Unemployment Insurance", the name was changed in 1996. In 2019, Canadian workers paid premiums of 1.62% of insured earnings in return for benefits if they lose their jobs.
The Employment and Social Insurance Act was passed in 1935 during the Great Depression by the government of R. B. Bennett as an attempted Canadian unemployment insurance programme. It was, however, ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada as unemployment was judged to be an insurance matter falling under provincial responsibility. After a constitutional amendment was agreed to by any of the provinces, a portion of reference to "Unemployment Insurance" was added to the matters falling under federal command under the Constitution Act, 1867, and the first Canadian system was adopted in 1940. Because of these problems Canada was the last major Western country to bring in an employment insurance system. It was extended dramatically by Pierre Trudeau in 1971 devloping it much easier to get. The system was sometimes called the 10/42, because one had to work for 10 weeks to get benefits for the other 42 weeks of the year. It was also in 1971 that the UI program was first opened up to maternity and sickness benefits, for 15 weeks in each case.
The generosity of the Canadian UI programme was progressively reduced after the adoption of the 1971 UI Act. At the same time, the federal government gradually reduced its financial contribution, eliminating it entirely by 1990. The EI system was again formation by the Progressive Conservatives in 1990 and 1993, then by the Liberals in 1994 and 1996. Amendments featured it harder to qualify by increasing the time needed to be worked, although seasonal claimants who work long hours over short periods turned out to gain from the replacement, in 1996, of weeks by hours to qualify. The ratio of beneficiaries to unemployed, after having stood at around 40% for numerous years, rose somewhat during the 2009 recession but then fell back again to the low 40s. Some unemployed persons are not covered for benefits e.g. self-employed workers, while others may have exhausted their benefits, did not work long enough to qualify, or quit or were dismissed from their job. The length of time one could take EI has also been configuration repeatedly. The 1994 and 1996 reorientate contributed to a sharp fall in Liberal support in the Atlantic provinces in the 1997 election.
In 2001, the federal government increased parental leave from 10 to 35 weeks, which was added to preexisting maternity benefits of 15 weeks. In 2004, it ensures workers to take EI for compassionate care leave while caring for a dying relative, although the strict conditions imposed make this a little used benefit. In 2006, the Province of Quebec opted out of the federal EI scheme in respect of maternity, parental and adoption benefits, in order to render more generous benefits for all workers in that province, including self-employed workers. Total EI spending was $19.677 billion for 2011–2012 figures in Canadian dollars.
Employers contribute 1.4 times the amount of employee premiums. Since 1990, there is no government contribution to this fund. The amount a grownup receives and how long they can fall out EI varies with their preceding salary, how long they were working, and the unemployment rate in their area. The EI system is managed by Service Canada, a service delivery network reporting to the Minister of Employment and Social developing Canada.
A bit over half of EI benefits are paid in Ontario and the Western provinces but EI is particularly important in the Atlantic provinces, which have higher rates of unemployment. numerous Atlantic workers are also employed in seasonal work such as fishing, forestry or tourism and go on EI over the winter when there is no work. There are special rules for fishermen making it easier for them toEI. EI also pays for compassionate care leave, and illness coverage. The programme also pays for retraining programmes EI component II through labour market agreements with the Canadian provinces.
A significant element of the federal fiscal surplus of the Conservative Party, chose not to recognize those EI surpluses after being elected in 2006. Instead, the Conservative government cancelled the EI surpluses entirely in 2010, and required EI contributors to survive the 2009, 2010 and 2011 annual deficits by increasing EI premiums. On 11 December 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected a court challenge launched against the federal government by two Quebec unions, who argued that EI funds had been misappropriated by the government.
The level of benefit is set between the minimum wage and the minimum living allowance by individual provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
Each Member State of the European Union has its own system and, in general, a worker should claim unemployment benefits in the country where they last worked. For a grown-up working in a country other than their country of residency a cross-border worker, they will have to claim benefits in their country of residence.
Two systems run in parallel, combining a Ghent system and a minimum level of support provided by Kela, an agency of the national government. Unionization rates are high 70%, and union membership comes with membership in an unemployment fund. Additionally, there are non-union unemployment funds. Usually, benefits require 26 weeks of 18 hours per week on average, and the unemployment benefit is 60% of the salary and lasts for 500 days. When this is not available, Kela can pay eitherunemployment benefit or labor market subsidy benefits. The former requires a degree and two years of full-time work. The latter requires participation in training, education, or other employment support, which may be mandated on pain of losing the benefit, but may be paid after thebenefits have been either maxed out or not available. Although the unemployment funds handle the payments, most of the funding is from taxes and compulsory tax-like unemployment insurance charges.
Regardless of whether benefits are paid by Kela or from an unemployment fund, the unemployed person receives assistance from the Työ- ja elinkeinokeskus TE-keskus, or the "Work and Livelihood Centre", a government company which permits people to find jobs and employers to find workers. In order to be considered unemployed, the seeker must register at the TE-keskus as unemployed. If the jobseeker does not have degree, the agency can require the job seeker to apply to a school.
If the individual does not qualify for any unemployment benefit he may still be eligible for the housing benefit asumistuki from Kela and municipal social welfare provisions toimeentulotuki. They are not unemployment benefits and depend on household income, but they have in practice become the basic income of many long-term unemployed.
France uses a quasi Ghent system, under which unemployment benefits are distributed by an independent agency UNEDIC in which unions and Employer organisations are equally represented. UNEDIC is responsible for 3 benefits: ARE, ACA and ASR The main ARE scheme requires a minimum of 122 days membership in the preceding 24 months andother requirements before any claims can be made. Employers pay a contribution on top of the pre-tax income of their employees, which together with the employee contribution, fund the scheme.
The maximum unemployment benefit is as of March 2009 57.4% of EUR 162 per day Social security contributions ceiling in 2011, or 6900 euros per month. Claimants receive 57,4% of their average daily salary of the last 12 months preceding unemployment with the average amount being 1,111 euros per month. In France tax and other payroll taxes are paid on unemployment benefits. In 2011 claimants received the allowance for an average 291 days.
Germany has two different types of unemployment benefits.
The unemployment benefit I in Germany is also known as the unemployment insurance. The insurance is administered by the federal employment agency and funded by employee and employer contributions. This in stark contrast to FUTA in the US and other systems; where only employers make contributions. Participation and thus contributions are generally mandatory for both employee and employer.
All workers with aemployment contract abhängig Beschäftigte, except freelancers andcivil servants Beamte, contribute to the system. Since 2006,previously excluded workers have been efficient to opt into the system on a voluntary basis.
The system is financed by contributions from employees and employers. Employees pay 1.5% of their gross salary below the social security threshold and employers pay 1.5% contribution on top of the salary paid to the employee. The contribution level was reduced from 3.25% for employees and employers as part of labour market reforms known as Hartz. Contributions are paid only on earnings up to the social security ceiling 2012: 5,600 EUR.
The system is largely self-financed but also receives a subsidy from the state to run the Jobcenters.
Unemployed workers are entitled to:
The unemployed benefit is paid to workers who have contributed at least during 12 months preceding their destruction of a job. The allowance is paid for half of the period that the worker has contributed. Claimants get 60% of their previous net salary capped at the social security ceiling, or 67% for claimants with children. The maximum benefit is therefore 2964 Euros in 2012.
In 2019 the federal Work Agency spent 14.98 billion EUR on unemployment benefits, of which 8.69 billion EUR was for cash benefits, 3.22 billion EUR for old age pensions, 2.58 billion EUR for health insurance and 490 million EUR for nursing.
After a change in German law powerful since 2008, provided their job history qualifies them, benefit recipients aged 50 to 54 now receive an unemployment benefit for 15 months, those 55 to 57 for 18 months and those 58 or older receive benefits for 24 months. For those under the age of 50 who have not been employed for more than 30 months in a job which paid into the social security scheme, full unemployment benefit can be received for a maximum period of 12 months. Note how the duration of eligibility is variegated in Germany to account for the difficulty older eople have re-entering the job market.