Assignment 10 - Social Insurance Concepts Flashcards
The program was created by the Social Security Act of 1935 (SSA) and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act of 1939 (FUTA). The act also provides for loans and advances to insolvent state programs. The program has been amended many times; however, with the exception of extended benefit durations during recessions, its basics have remained intact
U.S. unemployment insurance (UI) program
To which types of employers does the UI program apply?
one notable excluded category of employees are those that work in the ___ industry
UI now covers almost all
- private and public sector employment
- most (NPOs)
- agricultural and domestic service workers.
- railroad
What are the eligibility requirements to qualify for unemployment benefits?
- Workers unemployed through no fault of their own
- “job losers”
- Benefits are not available to “job leavers” (quit or fired for gross misconduct)
Under “normal” economic conditions, how many weeks of UI is provided and how are weekly benefits determined?
- up to 26 weeks of unemployment compensation in the majority of states.
- a function of the amount of the recipient’s covered employment and earnings during the base period
Unemployment benefits are subject to federal, and often state, income taxation, but not ____ taxes
payroll
How are regular state unemployment compensation programs financed?
** FUTA tax** together with state unemployment tax systems provides the funds for paying unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs.
Federal administration of UI is done largely by the Office of Unemployment Insurance, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. The Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) is managed and invested by the _______. State administrative agencies have various names and positions within the state governments.
Treasury Department
appeal 2 step process of the UI program:
- semiformal hearing
- then before a more formal board or commission.
What factors have contributed to a high percentage of UI recipients exhausting their regular unemployment benefits?
- less urgency to find job in two income families
- age structure (baby boomers)
- economic contractions
What additional benefits does the federal government provide during periods of high unemployment?
A permanent federal-state extended benefits (EB) program. It provides an additional 13 weeks of benefits for those who have exhausted their 26 weeks of regular benefit eligibility on a state-by-state basis
To whom does the Social Security program’s Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) coverage apply?
- 90% of the total workforce
OASDI
When the program was first developed in _____, it was confined entirely to retirement benefits. It was not until ___ that auxiliary (or dependents) and survivor benefits were added, and not until ___ that disability benefits were made available. The normal retirement age (NRA), also called the full retirement age, was originally established at the age of 65.
- 1934-35
- 1939
- 1956
Eligibility for OASDI retirement benefits—termed _______ —depends on having a certain number of quarters of coverage (QCs), sometimes referred to as _____ varying with the year of birth or, expressed in another manner, depending on the year of an individual’s attainment of the age of 62.
- fully insured status
- “credits,”
Beneficiary categories for OASDI benefits are (6):
- (a) Insured workers: They can receive unreduced retirement benefits in the amount of the primary insurance amount (PIA),2 beginning at the NRA, or actuarially reduced benefits beginning at earlier ages, down to the age of 62.
- (b) Spouses of retired workers: They can receive benefits at the rate of 50% of the PIA if the claim is first made at the NRA or over, and at a reduced rate if claimed at ages down to the age of 62.
- (c) Spouses with dependent children under the age of 16 (or a child aged 16 or over who was disabled before the age of 22): The spouse receives benefits regardless of age, in an unreduced amount (50% of the PIA).
- (d) Divorced spouses when the marriage has lasted at least ten years: The benefits amount is the same as that of undivorced spouses.
- (e) Children under the age of 18 (and children aged 18 or over and disabled before the age of 22, plus children attending elementary or high school full-time at the age of 18): They are eligible for a supplementary payment at a rate of 50% of the PIA
- (f) Grandchildren and great-grandchildren can qualify as “children” if they are dependent on the grandparent (retired worker) and if both parents of the child are disabled or deceased.
As a result of legislation in 2000, the retirement earnings test applies only to people below the ____, which ranges from 65 to 67 depending on the date of birth
NRA
