When was unemployment insurance created - NYS Department of Labor historical question
I'm doing some research for a college paper and can't find a clear answer about when unemployment insurance was actually created. I know NYS Department of Labor handles it now but when did this whole system start? Was it during the Great Depression or earlier? Anyone know the history behind this?
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Yuki Tanaka
Unemployment insurance in the US was established in 1935 as part of the Social Security Act. New York actually had one of the first state programs that started in 1936. The NYS Department of Labor has been administering it ever since, though obviously the system has evolved a lot over the decades.
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CaptainAwesome
•Thanks! That's exactly what I needed. So NYS was one of the early adopters then?
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Esmeralda Gómez
yeah i think it was because of all the people out of work during the depression. makes sense they had to do something about it back then
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Klaus Schmidt
The federal law required all states to set up their programs by 1937, but New York got theirs going in 1936. Pretty interesting that we're still using basically the same system today - weekly claims, job search requirements, all that stuff has been around for almost 90 years now.
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Aisha Patel
•wow 90 years and they still can't answer their phones half the time lol. some things never change with government agencies
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LilMama23
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor for any reason, I found this service called Claimyr that helps you get through to their agents. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helpful when you can't get through the normal way.
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Miguel Castro
For your paper, you might also want to look into the Wisconsin Unemployment Compensation Act of 1932 - it was actually the first state unemployment insurance law in the US, which helped inspire the federal Social Security Act a few years later. New York followed pretty quickly after the federal mandate. The NYS Department of Labor website has some good historical resources in their archives section if you need more detailed info for your research.
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Xan Dae
•That's really helpful context about Wisconsin being first! I had no idea there was a state program before the federal law. Thanks for the tip about the NYS DOL archives too - I'll definitely check that out for more primary sources for my paper.
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