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Glite Dictionary
unemployment compensation

unemployment compensation

7 3.2
Money a government pays to people who lose their jobs
  • noun
  • /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt ˌkɒmpənˈseɪʃən/
  • US
translation icon : indemnización por desempleo
  • Congress approved a bill to extend unemployment compensation for people whose regular benefits have run out.
  • workers' unemployment compensation

Examples

  • When discussing the disincentive of unemployment compensation, it is remiss not to also discuss the job market.

    Blog text (7)

  • The court said that the denial of unemployment compensation was prohibited.

    Academic text (1993)

  • If this kept up, he was going to run out of unemployment compensation before he found anything.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Subsequently, she was denied unemployment compensation because she had failed to accept "suitable work."

    Academic text (1998)

  • Ten days after it arrived, she went down to the State Building on Turk Street and filled out the form for unemployment compensation.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • What a person receives while collecting unemployment compensation is based on wages previously earned.

    Blog text (21)

  • When she was dismissed, she filed for unemployment compensation, but was denied on the basis of "misconduct" connected with her work.

    Academic text (1998)

  • You're correct, the unemployment compensation would be slightly less than working full-time under awful conditions.

    Blog text (21)

  • The average payment for unemployment compensation is $290 a week.

  • Although I'm receiving unemployment compensation, I'm still having a hard time paying my bills.

Synonyms

dole
vsunemployment compensation
  • UK
∞ 4.1

Money the government gives to people without work

is the specific public agency payment mainly used in the United States

Surface Forms

unemployment compensation singular
unemployment compensations plural

Morphology

unemployment + compensation

The meaning is directly compositional: 'unemployment' denotes being without a job and 'compensation' denotes money paid as reparation or benefit, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer this refers to payments for unemployment. The structure (noun + noun where the second names the type of payment) and its cross-linguistic parallels make the phrase immediately understandable despite regional usage nuances.

Etymology

Unemployment compensation comes from government programs set up to pay people who lost their jobs. The part unemployment means 'without work' and compensation means money given to make up for lost pay, so the phrase means government money for people who are out of work.