We show that the largest increase in unemployment benefits in U.S. history had large spending impacts and small job-finding impacts. This finding has three implications. First, increased benefits were important for explaining aggregate spending dynamics—but not employment dynamics—during the...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government implemented the largest expansion in eligibility to federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits in history through the creation of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. This program expanded eligibility to self-employed...

How did the largest expansion of unemployment benefits in U.S. history affect household behavior? Using anonymized bank account data covering millions of households, we provide new empirical evidence on the spending and job search responses to benefit changes during the pandemic and compare...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress expanded unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in three ways. First, it increased the level of benefits through a $600 and then a $300 per week supplement. Second, it expanded the pool of workers who are eligible to receive UI via the Pandemic...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic contraction, the Online Platform Economy served as a crucial source of families’ income. The JPMorgan Chase Institute analyzes changes in supply-side participation in the Online Platform Economy during a period that includes the COVID-19...

American families carry more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. This debt provided many with the opportunity to pursue higher education, but remains for others a large, potentially crippling, financial burden. In this report, we explore how people of different socioeconomic groups are...

We show that the largest increase in unemployment benefits in U.S. history had large spending impacts and small job-finding impacts. This finding has three implications. First, increased benefits were important for explaining aggregate spending dynamics--but not employment dynamics--during the...

Consumers often rely on lawyers to make complicated legal decisions, though in many cases, the lawyer's financial interests are at odds with those of the client. We consider this general problem in the context of consumers filing for bankruptcy. Lawyers advise debtors on whether to file the...

There is ongoing interest in determining what predicts that a person will file bankruptcy. Past research has pointed to both a variety of acute shocks immediately before filing and the presence of substantial debt as risk factors for filing bankruptcy. We provide evidence on both fronts by using...