State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Connecticut > Title31 > Chap567 > Sec31-234

      Sec. 31-234. Dependency allowances. Each individual who is eligible to receive benefits for unemployment with respect to any week shall be paid with respect to such week a dependency allowance of fifteen dollars for such individual's nonworking spouse, as defined by regulation, living in the same household with such individual and for each of such individual's children or stepchildren who at the beginning of the individual's current benefit year were being wholly or mainly supported by such individual and were under eighteen years of age or under twenty-one years of age and in full-time attendance in a secondary school, a technical school, a college, or state accredited job training program, or who at the beginning of the individual's benefit year were mentally or physically handicapped and because of such handicap were being wholly or mainly supported by such individual, but in no event shall such allowances exceed the number of whole dollars in one hundred per cent of the total unemployment benefit rate of such individual or be paid with respect to more than five dependents. If the individual acquires any additional dependents in the course of a benefit year, the dependency allowance shall be adjusted accordingly during the next following complete calendar week. Dependency allowances shall be in addition to the unemployment benefits otherwise payable and shall not be considered part of an individual's total unemployment benefit rate but shall be counted in the amount of maximum benefits provided in section 31-232a and no dependency allowance shall be payable with respect to any week unless an unemployment benefit is also payable with respect to such week. If both a husband and a wife receive benefits with respect to a week of unemployment, neither shall be entitled to a dependency allowance with respect to the other and only one of them shall be entitled to a dependency allowance with respect to any child or stepchild.

      (1949 Rev., S. 7506; 1957, P.A. 464, S. 4; February, 1965, P.A. 550, S. 3; 1967, P.A. 790, S. 12; 1971, P.A. 341; P.A. 75-135; P.A. 77-426, S. 10, 19; P.A. 80-373, S. 1, 3; P.A. 99-154; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-1, S. 44, 51.)

      History: 1965 act increased dependency allowance from $4 to $5 and maximum age of dependents from 16 to 17; 1967 act allowed consideration of nonworking spouse living in same household as dependent, increased maximum age of children to 18 and specified that where both spouses receive benefits neither qualifies as a dependent; 1971 act authorized adjustment of dependency allowance if additional dependents are acquired; P.A. 75-135 authorized consideration of children under 21 as dependents if in full-time attendance in secondary or technical school, college or job training program; P.A. 77-426 deleted reference to Sec. 31-231b; P.A. 80-373 increased dependency allowance to $10 and limited payments to no more than five dependents; P.A. 99-154 increased weekly dependency allowance from $10 to $15 and raised dependency allowance cap from 50% to 00% of claimant's weekly benefit rate; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-1 made provisions of P.A. 99-154 effective for benefit years commencing on or after October 3, 1999, effective July 1, 1999.