The nation?s unemployment insurance system, which has hardly changed since its inception in 1935, should be revamped to aid more workers displaced by a transforming economy, economists said this week as they released overhaul proposals. Currently, because of tight state eligibility requirements and because a growing number of workers do not have long-term, full-time jobs, unemployment insurance is paid to just over a third of those who are laid off, government data show, and coverage is less likely among the lower-income workers who most need it.
See "Overhauls Proposed in Benefits for Jobless", Erik Eckholm, The New York Times, September 13, 2006