Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system buckled for many during the pandemic, with people of color less likely than whites to receive federal help, an audit found.
Category: Lives on Hold
Wisconsin has failed to deliver unemployment aid to thousands at a time when they most need it. This series examines the state’s unemployment system and how it is working, or not, for the people who most need assistance.
Posted inEconomy, Lives on Hold
People with disabilities sue to overturn Wisconsin law denying them unemployment benefits
Eight plaintiffs receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments say the state is illegally discriminating against them by banning them from jobless aid.
Posted inEconomy, Lives on Hold
‘We aren’t a bunch of lazy people’: Rejoining workforce isn’t easy for some who lost jobs to COVID-19
Wisconsin’s jobless are mismatched on openings and skills or struggle with child care or transportation. Others are still waiting on unemployment aid.
Posted inEconomy, Lives on Hold
‘I got nothing left’: Wisconsin’s jobless pushed to brink as ideas swirl for mending torn safety net
Upgrading outdated technology could help. So could making claims more user-friendly and overcoming partisan paralysis.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Government, Lives on Hold
Thousands await jobless aid as Wisconsin leaders blame each other for failure
Wisconsin’s unemployment system buckled during the pandemic. State leaders are moving slowly to address a crisis years in the making.
Posted inGovernment, Lives on Hold, Outbreak Wisconsin
Wisconsinites with disabilities see long wait for jobless aid, even after gaining eligibility
Many remain in limbo after Wisconsin said laid-off workers on federal disability may qualify for pandemic relief. One woman finally succeeded — after 32 emails.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Welfare, Lives on Hold, Outbreak Wisconsin
Following denials, laid-off Wisconsin workers with disabilities now eligible for federal pandemic aid
Federal government gives Wisconsin its blessing to reverse a policy that had blocked assistance to jobless workers receiving disability aid.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Government, Lives on Hold
As the nation reckons with race, a mother awaits unemployment aid — and Wisconsin officials lack research
National research shows jobless Black and Latino workers are less likely than white workers to receive aid. Experts say Wisconsin should study the issue.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Government, Lives on Hold, Outbreak Wisconsin
Lives on hold: Pandemic exposes failures of Wisconsin unemployment insurance system
Wisconsin has failed to deliver unemployment aid to thousands at a time when they most need it. The crisis was years in the making.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Government, Lives on Hold, Outbreak Wisconsin
Reversing course: Wisconsin seeks federal OK to aid the unemployed with disabilities
Wisconsin has denied federal pandemic aid to workers on federal disability who lost their jobs. The state’s top employment official now seeks a reversal.
Posted inCoronavirus Coverage, Economy, Government, Lives on Hold, Outbreak Wisconsin
‘I cried for days’: Wisconsin blocks pandemic payments for federal disability aid recipients
A 2013 Wisconsin law prevents laid-off workers on federal disability from getting state unemployment. Now the state is denying them federal pandemic aid too.