Summer Unemployment Benefits Could Increase K–12 Support Staff Incomes by $1.2 Billion Nationwide

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

Summer unemployment insurance eligibility could provide a $1.2 billion annual income boost for K–12 school support staff, addressing low pay and missing summer earnings. School support staff often forgo months of income because they are ineligible for unemployment insurance during summer breaks, a situation compounded by broader underinvestment. Minnesota’s 2023 policy extended summer UI eligibility, delivering $38.6 million in wage replacement and supporting recruitment and retention.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Summary

Key findings

Why this matters

How to fix it

The school support staff workforce

Support staff positions are not well paid

The exclusion of school support staff from unemployment insurance

Minnesota expands eligibility to K–12 support staff

Utilization of Minnesota’s new policy

Program costs

Projecting costs for similar programs in other states

Conclusion

Methodology

Notes

References

Appendix

Summer unemployment benefits could increase K–12 support staff incomes by $1.2 billion nationwide Report • By Dave Kamper, Sebastian Martinez Hickey, and Daniel Perez • August 20, 2024 • Washington, DC View this report [at](at epi.org/281866)[ epi.org/281866](at epi.org/281866) | Overview
Summer unemployment benefits could increase K–12 support staff incomes by $1.2 billion nationwide | |

EPI
Summer unemployment benefits could increase K–12 support staff incomes by $1.2 billion nationwide
By Dave Kamper, Sebastian Martinez Hickey, and Daniel Perez
August 20, 2024
Read the full report
[epi.org/281866](epi.org/281866) | | --- | --- | --- | | | Summary: Instead of punishing workers for wanting to serve in public schools, states should follow Minnesota’s lead by providing school support staff—who are disproportionately Black and brown, women, and older workers—with unemployment insurance benefits during the summer. | | | Key findings
• Adding to woefully low compensation and inadequate hours, school support staff must forgo months of income in the summer but are ineligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
• Minnesota extended summer UI eligibility to school support staff in 2023, which led to these workers receiving nearly $40 million in unemployment benefits.
• If all 50 states enacted policies like Minnesota’s, school support staff incomes would increase by $1.2 billion per year; this would prevent the significant drop off in income that occurs for many school support staff during the summer.
• Providing support staff with UI through the summer reduces incentives for these workers to find a different job, which can help with staff retention.
Why this matters
Extending summer unemployment benefits to school support staff is an easy way to help stabilize K–12 school staffing, improve learning environments for students, and provide economic security for this essential group of workers.
How to fix it
States should enact the same policy enacted by Minnesota in 2023, making school support staff eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in the summer. This policy would provide a meaningful supplement to these vital workers’earnings, at a relatively trivial cost to the public. | | | Economic Policy Institute View online [at](at epi.org/281866)[ epi.org/281866](at epi.org/281866) T he Economic Policy Institute has long documented the expanding pay penalty faced by teachers in our K–12 system thanks to decades of underinvestment in public education (Allegretto 2023) . But teachers are not the only ones who have been undervalued: Many other school staff—who are essential for providing high-quality, safe, and nurturing learning environments—face considerable financial challenges as a result of their decision to serve in public schools. This report outlines the working conditions of K–12 school support staff across the country. Typically, paraprofessionals, classroom assistants, administrative assistants, custodians, food service workers, bus drivers, and other nonlicensed staff in schools already receive low pay and inadequate hours during the school year. These jobs are disproportionately held by women, Black and brown workers, and older workers. In addition to low wages, support staff often do not work for school districts over the summer months—which translates to a potential loss of 10 or 11 weeks of paid employment. The precarity of these workers is compounded by policies (in all but two states) which make school support staff ineligible to collect unemployment insurance (UI) during the summer. This report discusses the historical reasons for this exclusion and emphasizes that state policies could and should change to help support school staff in the summer. In 2023, Minnesota passed a law to make school support staff eligible for unemployment insurance during their summer breaks, becoming the first state in the nation to enact this as a permanent

FAQs

Why are K–12 school support staff vulnerable during summer months?

Support staff often do not work for school districts over the summer, which can mean losing 10 or 11 weeks of paid employment. Many states also make these workers ineligible for unemployment insurance during summer breaks.

What did Minnesota change in 2023?

Minnesota extended unemployment insurance eligibility to school support staff during their summer breaks as a permanent measure for all school support staff, becoming the first state to do so nationwide.

How much income impact could similar policies have nationwide?

If all other states and D.C. enacted comparable policies with similar benefit utilization, school support staff incomes nationwide would increase by about $1.2 billion per year, while costing relatively little to the public.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum