For instance, labour market conditions in Ireland, Spain and the United States have been slack for close to three years. For all three countries, “regular” unemployment insurance programmes lost pace with the number of unemployed as the crisis extended into its third year, thereby potentially leaving an increasing share of unemployed with no assistance. That being said, as shown in the Panel B of Figure 1.17, unemployment benefit extensions introduced in the United States and unemployment assistance benefits in Ireland and Spain have played a significant role in allowing their systems to keep up with growing number of unemployed over time.