Taking Up Social Benefits: A Cautionary Tale from an Unemployment Insurance Survey Experiment

Abstract

What role can information play in changing the take-up of social benefits? Using evidence from an online, large-scale survey experiment of American workers, the authors answer this question in the context of unemployment insurance (UI). Three treatments provided accurate, concise, and customized information about UI eligibility requirements, benefit generosity, and application procedures to respondents. The experimental results unambiguously show a statistically and substantively significant decline in workers’ self-reported willingness to apply for UI benefits after receiving information about program details. These declines were largest for workers who received information about the program’s eligibility requirements and application procedures. The analysis suggests that the information treatments countered pre-existing beliefs that unemployment benefits would be generous and easy to receive, thus lowering workers’ likelihood of applying once they had learned about the program’s actual rules. These results provide a cautionary lesson for policymakers seeking to broaden social benefit take-up through information interventions.