One of the myths about unemployment insurance held by those who have never made a claim is that the benefits will be close to the amount of income earned while working. This is generally not true. For many people the unemployment money they receive is a small percentage of their earned wages. Most states have benefit cap and will only pay up to a certain amount no matter what you earned while working. The unemployment compensation system is designed to discourage people from remaining on unemployment. To keep the benefits once awarded, you must be actively working for work and your efforts will have to be reported to the state unemployment office. In many states it is possible to earn some wages and collect a reduced amount of unemployment benefits.