Low-wage workers are least likely to receive unemployment insurance benefits: Share of low-wage and not-low-wage workers receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefits
| year | Not-low-wage workers | Low-wage workers |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 35.3% | 15.9% |
| 2001 | 44.7% | 19.1% |
| 2002 | 48.0% | 22.2% |
| 2003 | 47.9% | 23.1% |
| 2004 | 38.1% | 18.4% |
| 2005 | 38.0% | 16.8% |
| 2006 | 33.2% | 15.0% |
| 2007 | 33.5% | 14.3% |
| 2008 | 39.5% | 19.2% |
| 2009 | 49.8% | 26.4% |
| 2010 | 47.0% | 25.5% |
| 2011 | 42.5% | 22.9% |
| 2012 | 38.1% | 19.2% |
| 2013 | 33.4% | 15.5% |
| 2014 | 27.6% | 11.9% |
| 2015 | 26.5% | 10.5% |
| 2016 | 26.0% | 10.7% |
| 2017 | 25.9% | 8.7% |
| 2018 | 20.5% | 9.5% |
Notes: Low-wage workers are workers who earn less than their state's 30th percentile wage. The figure shows share of workers age 16–64 who had been unemployed who had UI benefit income during the previous year.
Source: Authors’ calculations using the March Current Population Survey from IPUMS-CPS.