Does unemployment come from social security - confused about NYS Department of Labor funding sources

No, unemployment benefits are completely separate from Social Security! Your unemployment comes from a trust fund that's funded by employer payroll taxes, not from Social Security taxes. NYS Department of Labor administers the unemployment insurance program using money that employers pay into the system. Your Social Security benefits for retirement are based on a totally different system funded by FICA taxes. Collecting unemployment now won't reduce your future Social Security payments at all.

your mom is thinking of the old days maybe? i remember my grandpa used to get confused about this stuff too. unemployment and social security are totally different things with different rules and everything

Just to add some detail - unemployment insurance is funded through the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) and Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). Employers pay these taxes based on their payroll, and that money goes into trust funds that pay out unemployment benefits. NYS Department of Labor manages New York's portion of this system. Social Security is funded through FICA taxes that both you and your employer pay, and those go toward your future retirement, disability, and Medicare benefits. Two completely separate systems with different funding sources.

I had the EXACT same confusion when I first filed for unemployment! My dad kept saying I was 'taking money from Social Security' and I was so stressed about it. Had to call NYS Department of Labor to get it clarified. The representative was really patient and explained that unemployment is basically insurance that employers pay for on behalf of their workers. It's like if your house burns down and you use your homeowner's insurance - you're not taking money from some other fund, you're using the insurance you (or in this case, your employer) paid for.

I was having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about this same thing actually. Kept getting busy signals for days. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to unemployment agents. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me hours of calling and redialing just to get a simple question answered about my benefits.

wait so if employers pay for unemployment insurance, why do some people act like unemployed people are freeloaders? they literally paid into this system through their work

This is such an important distinction to understand! I work in HR and I see this confusion all the time. Another way to think about it: when you look at your paystub, you'll see Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA) being deducted from YOUR paycheck - that's what funds Social Security. But you won't see unemployment insurance deductions from your pay because that's paid entirely by your employer as a separate business expense. NYS Department of Labor gets funding from these employer contributions, not from Social Security. So you're absolutely not touching your retirement benefits by collecting unemployment - you're using a benefit that was already paid for on your behalf while you were working.