Social Insurance and Public Assistance

784 Series Bf497–510 Bf SOCIAL INSURANCE AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
TABLE Bf497–510 Railroad unemployment insurance and sickness benefits – applications, claims, beneficiaries, and payments: 1940–1998 Continued
Unemployment benefits Sickness benefits
Payments Payments
Applications Claims Accounts Average Applications Claims Accounts Average
received received Beneficiaries exhausted Number Total amount amount received received Beneficiaries exhausted Number Total amount amount
Bf497 Bf498 Bf499 Bf500 Bf501 Bf502 Bf503 Bf504 Bf505 Bf506 Bf507 Bf508 Bf509 Bf510
Thousand Thousand Thousand
Year Number Number Number Number Number dollars dollars Number Number Number Number Number dollars Dollars
1965 153,000 727,000 127,000 19,000 926,900 71,260 78.97 142,000 688,000 106,000 20,000 647,800 43,984 91.37
1966 175,000 525,000 153,000 10,000 696,000 47,673 71.26 134,000 631,000 101,000 18,000 594,700 40,447 91.15
1967 98,000 751,000 81,000 8,000 496,300 34,413 74.44 127,000 591,000 92,000 16,000 552,900 36,477 91.00
1968 275,000 516,000 233,000 9,000 710,900 41,698 61.45 121,000 560,000 88,000 14,000 522,600 34,052 90.80
1969 112,000 438,000 96,000 8,000 485,000 40,840 88.85 128,000 684,000 93,000 16,000 646,300 55,747 110.63
1970 98,000 438 79,000 6,000 407,400 35,028 91.84 121,000 707,000 91,000 17,000 674,000 57,927 112.87
1971 330,600 748,700 249,000 8,300 682,200 44,957 68.34 113,800 671,500 86,000 15,200 632,800 50,140 113.26
1972 392,100 1,095,300 317,000 14,100 1,015,800 80,684 82.28 108,700 612,000 82,000 12,600 571,200 39,407 112.48
1973 128,000 505,800 105,000 7,800 476,100 41,193 91.46 97,800 527,300 74,000 9,800 491,800 31,634 112.09
1974 60,600 274,000 48,000 4,000 254,500 22,417 95.19 94,800 487,300 71,000 8,500 450,000 28,053 111.45
1975 108,600 443,400 77,900 4,800 411,600 37,549 94.28 89,600 453,300 67,400 7,900 417,900 29,564 111.26
1976 133,000 875,100 105,300 20,500 826,500 142,983 175.87 103,000 511,800 76,900 11,200 473,000 74,930 204.92
1977 102,500 640,800 84,600 13,400 604,500 111,239 190.75 107,600 549,900 82,200 12,400 514,200 77,973 230.63
1978 112,200 652,700 94,900 10,500 614,900 112,393 195.05 107,800 511,300 81,800 11,100 482,200 71,197 232.06
1979 124,800 580,600 97,200 7,100 531,900 100,795 198.69 103,500 485,800 78,300 10,100 454,700 64,235 231.73
1980 136,900 650,200 101,600 11,200 596,500 112,706 198.79 102,800 468,300 76,800 9,500 428,500 60,043 231.04
1981 156,200 1,116,700 121,900 27,900 1,070,600 216,028 208.84 99,700 458,600 75,200 9,400 422,300 60,613 231.88
1982 210,000 1,322,900 152,400 36,000 1,247,400 247,674 208.27 94,100 444,300 71,800 9,300 409,800 54,716 232.15
1983 236,700 2,023,500 182,900 67,600 1,894,500 394,364 1 212.95 82,300 423,300 62,900 10,000 388,200 56,721 234.65
1984 132,700 1,123,400 115,600 34,400 1,065,800 216,348 1 207.94 72,100 370,600 57,200 8,800 345,600 45,434 234.10
1985 105,300 695,200 81,700 16,100 648,500 126,426 1 201.03 67,000 342,100 51,600 8,000 316,900 43,783 234.16
1986 112,300 754,500 87,600 17,400 706,800 140,452 1 205.56 63,500 356,400 49,500 8,800 329,400 47,397 233.87
1987 90,400 680,000 75,200 17,000 630,200 118,573 206.88 58,200 346,800 45,200 9,100 319,100 55,735 232.82
1988 68,500 456,100 54,400 10,600 417,800 85,774 209.76 54,500 323,600 41,700 8,400 295,200 24,834 232.85
1989 49,200 306,000 35,200 6,600 258,200 60,798 247.44 47,700 286,300 33,700 7,600 245,000 32,136 271.35
1990 39,600 298,900 29,900 5,600 230,900 57,215 249.72 41,900 270,400 28,200 6,100 208,700 32,566 285.74
1991 46,100 309,500 30,500 5,900 245,400 60,102 264.45 37,800 257,100 25,600 5,300 192,000 32,567 289.93
1992 32,900 280,700 26,400 5,900 236,600 55,104 269.48 34,200 233,000 23,600 5,300 184,900 12,037 290.93
1993 27,200 215,300 20,700 4,300 182,500 49,188 289.30 31,700 205,000 21,800 4,600 167,600 21,546 307.33
1994 22,600 187,700 18,600 4,000 158,700 40,441 293.38 30,900 205,100 21,600 4,700 170,000 25,437 312.94
1995 23,700 158,000 18,700 2,900 129,900 37,357 312.84 29,100 196,200 21,000 4,300 163,000 24,198 336.36
1996 22,400 162,400 16,800 3,400 134,800 40,678 314.31 28,000 194,100 20,400 4,400 162,900 25,759 337.84
1997 19,500 130,200 15,300 2,700 105,500 38,249 357.69 27,400 184,300 20,500 4,300 154,600 32,475 372.03
1998 13,700 86,800 11,300 2,100 71,500 27,034 375.04 26,600 171,100 20,500 4,300 147,500 33,058 385.40
(Z) Fewer than 500 accounts.
1 Includes supplemental extended unemployment benefits paid to certain workers. See text.
Source
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Statistical Tables: Data through Fiscal Year 1998, Tables C1 and C2.
Documentation
The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act of 1938 was established to provide unemployment benefits
for railroad workers who were often denied coverage under state programs because of the interstate
nature of their employment. The Act established a system of benefits for unemployed railroad workers
that was financed entirely by railroad employers and administered by the Railroad Retirement Board.
The Railroad system covers the entire United States and is similar to the Unemployment Insurance (UI)
system described in the text for Table Bf484–496.
In 1940 a uniform benefit year was established, and sickness benefits were added in 1946. As of
1997, contribution rates for employers ranged from 0.65 to 12 percent, and benefits were paid for
compensable days of unemployment and sickness at a daily rate of 60 percent of the employee’s wage
subject to a $42.00 maximum and a $12.70 minimum.