Table 1. Characteristics of social/unemployment protection and sanction policies by selected regions and countries, 2018-2019.

Region/country	Benefit type	Qualifying period/earnings	Benefit amount	Initial net replacement ratea	Maximum benefit duration (months)	Reduction in benefit for most severe sanction	Duration of sanction (months)
Nordic countries:
Denmark	Unemployment insurance (UI)	DKK 233,376 last 3 years, plus min. 12 months of employment and payment membership fee	Max. DKK 18,866/month	72	24 in 3 years	Termination of payment	n/a
Finland	Unemployment insurance (UI)	26 weeks, last 28 months (min. 18 hours/week) Earnings-related benefit: min. 26 weeks of membership unemployment fund	EUR 32.40/day (flat-rate) Max. EUR 143.16/dayb (earnings-related benefit)	75	20	Suspension of payment	2
	Unemployment assistance (UA)	n/a	Same as flat-rate UI	n/a	Unlimited	n/a	n/a
Norway	Unemployment insurance (UI)	Min. earnings: 1.5 times or 3 times the annual base amountc, last 1 or 3 years respectively	Daily benefit: 0.24% of annual base amountc	73	26	Suspension of payment	6
Sweden	Unemployment insurance (UI)	6 months, last 12 months; membership of insurance fund for min. 12 months	Max income-related benefit: SEK 910/day, first 100 days; after: SEK 760/day; Basic insurance: SEK 365/day	65	10	Termination of payment	6.5
Continental European countries:
Belgium	Unemployment insurance (UI)	468 days, last 27 months	n/a	71	Unlimited	Termination of payment	1-12
Netherlands	Unemployment insurance (UI)	26 weeks, last 36 weeks: week's condition, short-term benefits 208 hours, last 4 out of 5 years: year’s condition, medium-term benefits	Max. EUR 216.90/month, first 2 months	74	3: short-term benefit (week’s condition) 24: medium-term benefit (year’s condition)	Suspension of of payment	n/a
Germany	Unemployment insurance (UI)	Min. 12 months, last 2 years	n/a	72	6-24, depend on age, contribution period	Suspension of payment	3
	Unemployment Assistance (UA)	n/a	EUR 416/month (flat-rate)	n/a	Unlimited, revised after 12 months	n/a	n/a
Switzerland	Unemployment insurance (UI)	Min. 12 months, last 2 years	n/a	85	18	Suspension of payment	2
Hungary	Unemployment insurance (UI)	360 days, last 3 years	Max. HUF 149,000/month	54	3	Termination of payment	n/a
English-speaking countries:
UK	Unemployment insurance (UI)	Min. 26 weeks, last 2 tax years	GBP 73.10/week (flat-rate)	59	6	Suspension of payment	36
	Unemployment assistance (UA)	n/a	Same as UI amount	n/a	Unlimited	n/a	n/a
Australia	Unemployment assistance (UA)	n/a	AUD 538.8/ fortnight (flat-rate)d	52	Unlimited	Termination of payment	n/a
USA	Unemployment insurance (UI)ef	20 weeks, plus min. earnings requirement	n/a	41	20	Termination of payment	n/a
	Social assistance (SA)f	USD 848/month (max. median income)g	USD 486/month (median)h	n/a	12-601	Adult portion of benefit - termination of paymenti	Until compliance or 1 month - permanenti

Note:

^aInitial net replacement rate in unemployment is the percentage of income maintained after 1 month of unemployment for one adult with dependent children, with an average wage; calculation includes social assistance benefits and housing benefits (OECD, 2021);

^bThe value is augmented by 20% of daily gross earnings;

^cThe annual base amount is NOK 93,634 (2019);

^dPlus a tax-exempt energy supplement of AUD 8.80 per fortnight;

^eData reported reflect the UI benefit scheme for Michigan;

^fInformation refer to state-level data on SA scheme ‘Temporary Assistance for Needy Families’ (TANF) (Shantz et al., 2020: Table II.A.4 pp.124-125; Table IV.C.1 pp. 203-207; Table L3: pp. 243-245; Table L7: pp. 263-274);

^gValue calculated for a single parent with two children;

^hValue calculated for a family with no income;

ⁱReported minimum and maximum values from state-level data.Source: International Social Security Association and U.S. Social Security Administration (2018a, 2018b, 2019); OECD (2018, 2019, 2021); MISSOC (2019), Shantz et al. (2020) and Nordic Health and Welfare Statistics (2021).