Does Unemployment Insurance Matter More for Workers with Disabilities? A Study of the 2020 CARES Expansion

In response to the pandemic recession, the 2020 CARES Act expanded eligibility and payments for Unemployment Insurance (UI). UI and the CARES Act may be more salient for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities, given their higher rates of job loss, lower personal and family incomes, and greater obstacles in finding jobs. Using March 2009–2023 CPS data, the authors find that relative to people without disabilities: 1) people with disabilities had higher UI receipt and UI values as a percentage of personal and family incomes; 2) the CARES UI supplement had especially favorable effects on incomes and poverty status for workers with disabilities in 2020; and 3) workers with disabilities who received UI were more likely to be employed the following March, an effect that may have been magnified by the CARES UI supplement. The results suggest that UI may play a salutary role in maintaining the health and job readiness of workers with disabilities.