If you do not have legal immigration status in the United States, you are at risk. Keep these points in mind: If approached by immigration authorities, do not sign any papers and do not talk to them unless you check with a lawyer first. Stay out of trouble with the law. In most, if not … Continue reading
Shifting labor force participation clouded unemployment picture Although the labor force participation rate (LFPR) has trended down since early 2000 (when the LFPR was 67 percent), the recession exacerbated the decline (see the Labor Force Participation Rate chart). At the end of 2014, roughly 62.7 percent of the working age population was either employed or … Continue reading
The problem might not be that the Ticket to Work program is ineffective, but that it comes too late in each worker’s personal-injury saga. For the roughly two-year stretch between the day someone decides they want to join disability to the day they actually start collecting benefits, there’s no one encouraging them to work. In … Continue reading
This report updates a 2014 analysis that looked at levels of income inequality in the 50 largest U.S. cities, and examines in particular trends between 2012 and 2013, the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau. Like the earlier analysis, it focuses on incomes among households near the top of the distribution—those earning more … Continue reading
The long-term unemployed are people who have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer. After expanding for 3 consecutive years, the number of long-term unemployed reached a record high of 6.7 million—or 45.1 percent of the unemployed—in the second quarter of 2010. Since then, the number has gradually declined to 2.8 million (or … Continue reading
Proximity to employment can influence a range of economic and social outcomes, from local fiscal health to the employment prospects of residents, particularly low-income and minority workers. An analysis of private-sector employment and demographic data at the census tract level reveals that: Between 2000 and 2012, the number of jobs within the typical commute distance … Continue reading
As this paper explains, wage stagnation is not inevitable. It is the direct result of public policy choices on behalf of those with the most power and wealth that have suppressed wage growth for the vast majority in recent decades. Thus, because wage stagnation was caused by policy, it can be alleviated by policy. In … Continue reading
The struggles of middle-class American families and growing income inequality have risen to the top of the national agenda. A new Stateline analysis shows that in all 50 states, the percentage of “middle-class” households—those making between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income—shrunk between 2000 and 2013. The change occurred even as … Continue reading
With a working population in the range of 144 million, one tends to think of a rush of workers to their place of employment in the morning and a rush to home in the evening. But many parts of the work force do not fully participate in that diurnal work flow. Figure 6-2 provides fundamental … Continue reading
The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001–a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans–declined by 1.8 percentage points over the year to 7.2 percent in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The jobless rate for all veterans, … Continue reading
The growing importance of data in the economy is hard to dispute. But what does this mean for workers and jobs? A lot, as it turns out: higher paying (over $40/hour), faster growing jobs. In this report we identify occupations where data analysis and processing are central to the work performed and measure the size … Continue reading
If households accept declining consumption in retirement, they need less wealth to maintain their living standard. If households consume less once their kids leave home, they have a more modest target to replace and they save more between the emptying of the nest and retirement. These two assumptions are the levers that allow one to … Continue reading
The earnings gap between people with a college degree and those with no education beyond high school has been growing since the late 1970s. Since 2000, however, the gap has grown more for those who have earned a post-graduate degree as well. The divergence between workers with college degrees and those with graduate degrees may … Continue reading
From 2010 to 2030, patterns of labor force participation will change across regions of the United States. In some regions, the primary demographic effect will be changes in age structure, which will drive declines in labor force participation rates. In other regions, in-migration and changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the adult population … Continue reading
A new research report calculates that the U.S. retirement savings crisis continues to worsen, and that the typical working household still has virtually no retirement savings. When all households are included— not just households with retirement accounts—the median retirement account balance is $2,500. The median retirement account balance was $3,000 for all working-age households as … Continue reading