Some aspects of unemployment insurance under the California Unemployment Insurance Act

166 Pages·08.073 MB·English

by  Dobry, Alfred

SOME ASPECTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE UNDER THE
CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Economics
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
hy
Alfred Dobry
June 1950
UMI Number: EP44698
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This thesis, written by
.............AX^MD.DOBRY.................
under the guidance of h-A&.. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OP ARTS
Date.....................
Faculty Committee
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PROBLEM AND ORGANIZATION................. 1
A Probl em ................................ 1
1 Statement of the problem . . . . . . . 1
i Justification of the problem. 1
/, Organisation........................... 2
A 1
I History and present status of the
_
problem ................... 2
Lps Angeles County ................... 3
Other sources of d a t a ........ t
II. THEORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE......... 5
The origin of relief in society . . . 5
Insurance and social Insurance . . . . 9
Unemployment insurance ............... 11
Distinction between individual
and social insurance ............... 13
A Conclusion.................... 15
III. DEVELOPMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE . . 18
A Development in Europe................... 18
' Early attempts ....................... 19
The Ghent System.............. 19
: The first comprehensive plan. 19
Germany, Belgium and Switzerland . . . 20
iii
CHAPTER pAGE
^ E n g l a n d .............................. 22
V; Development in the United States . . . . 23
! Trade union unemployment insurance
p l a n s .......................... 23
1 Company unemployment insurance plans . 25
IV. THE SOCIAL SECURITY A C T ............ 31
1 Federal unemployment Insurance ........ 32
' Title I I I ............................ 32
z Title I X .............................. 34
1 A general review of the A c t ......... 35
^ The Supreme Court and the Social
Security A c t ................... 37
A Advisory Council report on unemployment
insurance ................. 38
^ Social Security board report on unem­
ployment Insurance............. 41
D The controversy over the federal-state
system............................ 42
' Advantages of a federal-state system . 45
c Advantages of a national system . . . 47
7 Summary and conclusions ............. 51
V. THE CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT. 60
The A c t ................................ 60
\ Purpose of unemployment insurance. . . 60
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
Coverage under the California Act. . . 61
A Financing unemployment insurance . . . 62
Coverage--subject employers... ....... 63
Elective coverage ................... 64
C Excluded employment ................ 63
" Experience rating ................... 66
\ Eligibility for benefits ............ 70
( Amount and duration of benefits. . . 71
o Disqualifications ................... 72
'A Claims and appeals procedure... 74
..Legislation, 1 9 4 9 .................. 75
Administration.......................... 76
Federal grants for administration
insufficient ....................... 77
5 Improper payments of unemployment
insurance benefits ................. 79
Payments under interpretations contrary
to legislative intent ............. 84
Legal payments which should be
illegal...................... 86
Unemployment insurance creating
unemployment . . . \............ 87
\
VI. THE SENATE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS . . 89
Committee recommendations .......... 89
CHAPTER PAGE
The federal government and opera­
tional funds....................... 90
The state government and operational
f u n d s .............................. 91
Fraud and its investigation........ 93
Administration....................... 96
VII. STATE OF CALIFORNIA..................... 98
Economic growth of Los Angeles County. . 98
S t e e l ................................ 99
Non-durable goods industries ........ 99
Non-manufacturing ................... 101
Bank d e b i t s ......................... 102
Retail sales in Los Angeles County . . 105
Unemployment in Los Angeles County . . 108
Economic future of the State of
California........................... 112
VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................. 115
S ummary ................................ 115
Los Angeles County................... 115
The California Unemployment Insurance
A c t ................................ 115
Conclusions............................ 116
Advantages of the California Act . . . 116
Weaknesses in the California Act . . . 118
CHAPTER PAGE
Conclusion............................ 120
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................ 121
APPENDIX........................................ 126
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Distribution of State and Federal Bills
Providing for Compulsory Systems of
Insurance in the United States,
1916-1933 .................................. 29
II. Distribution of Employment in Los Angeles
County, January 1947-May I949 ............. 126
III. Indexes of Bank Debits in Los Angeles
County, 1939-1948 ......................... 127
IV. Per Capita Retail Sales, 1939-1948 128
V. Retail Sales in Los Angeles County,
19 39-194 8.................................. 129
VI. Civilian Labor Force in Los Angeles
County, January 1947-May 1949 ............. 130
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. Jobless-pay Reserves ...................... 50
2. Breakdown of Employment in Los Angeles
County, January 1947-May 1949 ........... 100
3. Bank Debits in Los Angeles County......... 103
4. Per Capita Retail Sales in Los Angeles
County and the United S t a t e s ........... 106
5 . Retail Sales in Los Angeles County . . . . 107
6 . Civilian Labor Force in Los Angeles County,
January 1947-May 1949 ................... 110