Unemployment Insurance Keeps People in Housing
A new report indicates that expansions to unemployment insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession helped millions of Americans avoid defaulting on their mortgages and insulated home values from the economic downturn. “Unemployment Insurance as a Housing Market Stabilizer,” published in the American Economic Review, finds that UI expansions helped prevent about 1.3 million foreclosures between 2008 and 2013. According to the authors, the results suggest that policies to make mortgages more affordable can reduce foreclosures even when borrowers are severely underwater.