businessinsider.com (10.12.2023) Americans are flocking to the gig economy for extra cash — but it's not working out for all of them. While it's unclear how many people work as delivery drivers, babysitters, resellers, freelance writers, or one of many other gig jobs, experts told Business Insider that the number is growing — and that there's no sign of it slowing down. While these workers are likely happy to have extra income in their bank accounts, the gig economy might not be the solution to people's finances that some think it is.

ssa.gov (Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 83 No. 4, 2023) Since 2012, the Social Security Administration has offered online my Social Security accounts to provide a key informational resource to the public. Yet the number of my Social Security accountholders remains lower than the agency had hoped for. We conducted a mixed-methods study involving quantitative analysis of survey data and qualitative analysis of personal interviews to examine potential barriers to my Social Security access and to evaluate account users' experiences.

morningstar.com (08.04.2023) A conservative estimate of 30,000 geriatricians will be needed to care for older adults by 2030, currently there is only about a quarter of that. This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. The U.S. healthcare system must address the shortage of geriatricians -- and fast. The U.S. population is growing and aging, with an estimated 42% increase in those aged 65 and older between 2019 and 2034.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) in the United States of America launched its redesigned website, ssa.gov. The new site leveraged human-centered design concepts to build out self-service capabilities and improve accessibility. SSA analyzed customer data and conducted user research to inform where the gaps were, test designs and implement iterative changes on the site.

(25.01.2023) Low-income Americans are struggling to obtain help from state governments when they most need it, facing long delays and sometimes insurmountable hurdles when applying for social safety net programs such as food assistance, welfare benefits and health insurance, according to a new report.

Government Information Quarterly  (October 2022) Administrative errors in unemployment insurance (UI) decisions give rise to a public values conflict between efficiency and efficacy. We analyze whether artificial intelligence (AI) – in particular, methods in machine learning (ML) – can be used to detect administrative errors in UI claims decisions, both in terms of accuracy and normative tradeoffs. We use 16 years of US Department of Labor audit and policy data on UI claims to analyze the accuracy of 7 different random forest and deep learning models.

ipcig.org (01.09.2022) Economic Impact Payments (EIPs)—commonly referred to as ‘stimulus checks’—were one of the key measures adopted by the US government to ease the crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. By May 2022, USD817 billion had been distributed to about 85 per cent of US households. However, those most in need faced many obstacles to receive the benefits, or never even received them. This Policy Research Brief examines some aspects of the operationalisation of this initiative and provides suggestions for future improvement.

 (June 2022) In 2021, The Hamilton Project has been doing a deep dive into social insurance in the United States. Our capstone analysis shows that social insurance plays a critical role for workers and families – both in times of crisis, as exhibited by the pandemic and ensuing economic recession, and in normal economic times. The social insurance system also helps buffer the economy when growth falters, supporting consumer purchasing power when income growth is weak. 

brookings.edu (27.05.2022) The COVID-19 recession was born out of a public health threat. Thus, unemployment insurance (UI) was meant to insure people against income losses associated not just with involuntary job loss, as in a usual recession, but also with the choice not to work due to the public health risk.

 NBER (March 2022) We conduct a benefit-cost analysis of a U.S. child allowance, based on a systematic literature review of the highest quality available causal evidence on the short- and long-term effects of cash and near-cash transfers. In contrast to the previous studies we synthesize, which tend to measure a subset of benefits and costs available in a particular dataset, we establish a comprehensive accounting of potential effects and secure estimates of each.