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After the COVID-19 lockdowns, how to fix benefit delivery tech for workers

People wait in line as Kentucky Labor Cabinet reopens 13 Regional Career Centers for in-person unemployment insurance services, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

The COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 caused a tidal wave of displaced workers who applied for unemployment insurance, or UI. But states, hampered by limited staff and outdated systems, struggled to get relief to these workers quickly and to implement expanded UI programs under the CARES Act. On this episode, a discussion with Annelies Goger, co-author of a new report that focuses on a holistic redesign of the labor and education digital ecosystems to improve user experience and equity in access. Goger, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, is co-author with Janie McDermott of “Digital transformation in labor and education systems: Improving the government response to the next unemployment crisis.”

Also on this episode, Senior Fellow Sarah Binder asks and answers four questions about the politics of the House Select Committee’s investigation into the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Listen to this segment also on SoundCloud.

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