# Unemployment Income: What It Is, How It Works

![Close up of a hand holding a pen filling out unemployment paperwork to receive unemployment benefits.](https://www.investopedia.com/thmb/D_F-fep3xtXcjq7SZ7HDeKmhSOc=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Unemployment_Income-f8a37834fc7046c5ae5f7fc162763ae1.jpg)

*— glegorly / Getty Images*

## What Is Unemployment Income?

Unemployment income refers to an insurance benefit paid due to taxpayers' inability to find gainful employment. Unemployment income is paid from either a federal or state-sponsored fund. The recipient must meet certain criteria in trying to find a job. Employers and employees are assessed a [payroll tax](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/payrolltax.asp) to cover the cost of this benefit.

Unemployment income is also known as an unemployment benefit, [unemployment compensation](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unemployment-compensation.asp), or [unemployment insurance](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unemployment-insurance.asp). The term is most commonly associated with filing a tax return, where such income must be reported.

### Key Takeaways

*   Unemployment income is paid by the government temporarily to unemployed workers who have lost their jobs due to layoffs or other reasons not of their own fault.
*   The goal of unemployment income is to provide a social safety net to those individuals who have become unemployed while looking for a new job.
*   Typically, unemployment is treated as ordinary income for tax purposes and must be reported to the IRS.
*   Under normal circumstances, most states pay a maximum of 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, but benefits can be extended or augmented during an economic crisis.
*   If you quit your job, you must have a reasonable cause, or you will most likely not qualify for unemployment.

## Understanding Unemployment Income

Unemployment benefits were first introduced in 1935 along with [Social Security](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/socialsecurity.asp). Unemployment income is designed to provide a subsistence income for a given length of time, giving the unemployed recipient time to find another job.

In the United States, unemployment income is paid to jobless individuals who qualify for them. Individuals must have worked at least one [quarter](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quarter.asp) in the previous year and been laid off by their employer. They must be actively seeking work to claim and receive benefits. Temporary workers or those who worked off the books are not eligible, nor are individuals who quit their jobs or were fired for misconduct.

Claims may be denied for several reasons, including if:

*   The worker quit their job without a reasonable cause, such as medical reasons or to care for a family member
*   The worker is not available for work (meaning nothing is preventing the individual from accepting a new job)
*   The worker was terminated for misconduct
*   The worker refused suitable work
*   The unemployment was the result of a labor dispute

Unemployment income is fully taxable as [ordinary income](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/ordinaryincome.asp). Recipients are sent a Form 1099-G at year-end detailing how much they received, which they must report on their [1040 form](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/1/1040.asp).

## Unemployment Income Amounts

Individual states determine how much unemployment [income](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/income.asp) an individual receives every week, a figure that may vary significantly from state to state.

For example, Minnesota had one of the highest maximum weekly benefit amounts at $762, topped only by Massachusetts at $855. Massachusetts allows up to 30 weeks of payments while Minnesota offers a maximum of 26 weeks. Though not the lowest, Florida's $375 maximum weekly benefit and 14 weeks of benefits are among the least generous.

During high unemployment, such as during the Great Recession, unemployment income payments may last for 99 weeks. During times of low unemployment, such benefits tend to last for up to roughly six months or 26 weeks in most states, though some states may offer a fraction of that.

## The COVID-19 Pandemic and Unemployment Income

On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law a $2 trillion coronavirus emergency stimulus package called the [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act](https://www.investopedia.com/coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-cares-act-4800707), which put provisions in place to provide unemployment benefits to unemployed individuals affected by the pandemic.

The law also expanded eligibility to allow those who otherwise don't qualify for benefits, including self-employed people, freelancers, and independent contractors, and created three initiatives called the [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance](https://www.investopedia.com/pandemic-unemployment-assistance-pua-definition-4802064) (PUA) program, the [Federal Pandemic Unemployment](https://www.investopedia.com/federal-pandemic-unemployment-compensation-fpuc-definition-4802039) (FPUC) program, and the [Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation](https://www.investopedia.com/pandemic-emergency-unemployment-compensation-peuc-definition-4802046) (PEUC) program.

On Sept. 6, 2021, all of these special pandemic-related benefits came to an end.

> **Important**
>
> While the American Rescue Plan extended the deadline for federal pandemic unemployment relief to Sept. 6, 2021, a number of states elected to end their enrollment in the FPUC and PEUC programs early. The best way to confirm the status and duration of your unemployment benefits is to check with your state's unemployment office.

### Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

As mentioned above, unemployment benefits were expanded under the PUA to include people who normally don't qualify for this type of income. These benefits are based on someone's previous earnings, according to a formula by the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program.

The minimum benefit provided was 50% of an individual state's average benefit per week, approximately $190 for that period.

### Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)

The CARES Act also established the FPUC program, which provided unemployed individuals with an extra benefit of $600. This benefit was paid weekly in addition to other unemployment income until July 2020.

This benefit was extended after the passage of the [Consolidated Appropriations Act](https://www.investopedia.com/congress-agrees-on-second-stimulus-here-s-what-s-in-it-and-what-s-not-5093226) (CAA) of 2021 in December 2020. The amount was then reduced to $300, payable every week beginning Dec. 26, 2020, until March 14, 2021. President Joe Biden pushed down the expiration date after signing the $1.9 trillion package called the [American Rescue Plan Act](https://www.investopedia.com/american-rescue-plan-definition-5095694) of 2021 on March 11, 2021. According to the new law, unemployed individuals could receive the additional $300 weekly benefit until Sept. 6, 2021.

### Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) 

States typically provide people with 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. But the CARES Act expanded that timeline under the PEUC, allowing individuals to claim benefits for an additional 13 weeks. But the law stated that people must be "able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work."

These benefits were extended to 24 weeks with the passage of the CAA in December 2020. The Biden Administration changed that again in March 2021 to 53 weeks, and the PEUC expired on Sept. 6, 2021.

> **Article Sources**
>
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>     
> 2.  U.S. Department of Labor. "[How Do I File for Unemployment Insurance?](https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/unemployment-insurance)"
>     
> 3.  Office of Unemployment Insurance. "[Benefit Denials](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/content/denialinformation.asp)."
>     
> 4.  Internal Revenue Service. "[About Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1099-g)."
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> 5.  Minnesota Unemployment Insurance. "[Information Handbook: After You Apply, How Much Will I Receive?](https://www.uimn.org/applicants/howapply/info-handbook/after-you-apply.jsp)"
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> 7.  Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "[How Your Unemployment Benefits Are Determined](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/how-your-unemployment-benefits-are-determined)."
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>     
> 9.  Congressional Research Service. "[Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08): Current Status of Benefits](https://greenbook-waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/2012/documents/R42444_gb.pdf)," Pages Summary Page and 1-2.
>     
> 10.  Office of Unemployment Insurance. "[Comparison of State Unemployment Laws 2019; Chapter 3, Monetary Entitlement](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2019/monetary.pdf)," Pages 3-10, 24-25.
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> 13.  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "[Policy Basics: How Many Weeks of Unemployment Compensation Are Available?](https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/how-many-weeks-of-unemployment-compensation-are-available)"
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> 14.  Committee on Small Business. "[Fact Sheet on Unemployment Insurance and the Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business Owners (\*As of April 3, 2020)](https://smallbusiness.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ui_and_ppp_factsheet_v2.pdf)," Page 1.
>      
> 15.  U.S. Congress. "[H.R.133 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/133/text)." Accessed Sept. 20, 2021.