How some states help residents avoid costly debt during hard times
State variation in maximum UI benefits, average across states during Q2 2020–Q4 2021. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01922-8 A new national study provides the best evidence to date that generous unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic helped reduce reliance on high-cost credit use. Researchers found that lower-income residents of states with more…










