Segregation in the Low-Wage Workforce
In this new feature, we illustrate the shifting racial composition of low-wage work and explore how policymakers and employers can strengthen America’s workforce, boost productivity, and foster a more equitable, sustainable economy.
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In this new feature, we illustrate the shifting racial composition of low-wage work and explore how policymakers and employers can strengthen America’s workforce, boost productivity, and foster a more equitable, sustainable economy.
Grantmaking and Partnerships
Led by a cross-sector Leadership Board that is ideologically diverse and representative of often-siloed groups, WorkRise invests in research on policies, programs, and practices that have the potential to accelerate economic security and mobility for low-wage workers. We fund analyses and the creation of data that shed light on labor market barriers, trends, and opportunities. And we engage in strategic partnerships that help advance evidence-based solutions in support of our mission. Learn more about our most recent request for proposals and how you can collaborate with WorkRise.
The Latest
In Depth
Worker voice, representation, and power
Last updated on October 24, 2024Segregation in the Low-Wage Workforce
Over the past 50 years, the composition of the low-wage workforce has changed: more than half of low-wage workers are now people of color, up from just 20 percent in 1971. Today, Black, Latino, and women workers are more likely to be segregated into worse-quality and lower-paying jobs.
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Employer practices
Last updated on October 08, 2024Young Workers Need Support When They Can't Find Their Footing in the US Workforce
During recessions, young workers are less likely to find work and face lower wage growth than more experienced workers. Unemployment Insurance could be reformed to support these young workers as they navigate the labor market amid economic downturns at foundational times in their careers, alongside other policy tools that can be effective in these instances.
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Skills and training
Last updated on June 04, 2024WorkRise Shorts: Applying AI to Rebuild Middle Class Jobs with David Autor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Autor asks what artificial intelligence could enable people to do and who could be enabled by this tool.
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The Latest
Economic context
Last updated on April 16, 2024
Video
WorkRise Shorts: Racial Inequity in the Workplace with Adia Harvey Wingfield
Despite a multibillion-dollar diversity industry and decades passed since the Civil Rights Act, workplaces still see substantial racial inequity.
Last updated on April 16, 2024
Skills and training
April 16, 2024
Article
Rethinking Career and Technical Education for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated: What Works?
A new study shows that individuals who complete career and technical education programs while incarcerated don’t have better employment outcomes or lower rates of recidivism when measured against a comparison group that did not. Instead of focusing on career-oriented programming, prisons should prioritize individuals with high needs, developing basic education programs and reducing practical barriers to employment.
Skills and training
April 03, 2024
Research Summary
The Key Benefits of Career and Technical Education Programs in High School
Career and technical education in high school is considered a way to increase earnings and education after students graduate, but it also is a tool to reduce the most adverse socioeconomic outcomes in the years immediately following graduation.
Research
Economic context
Executive Summary
March 15, 2023
How Past Criminal Convictions Bar Floridians from Occupational Licensing Opportunities
In this report, the Florida Policy Institute and the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University highlight research exploring the relationship between occupational licensing and recidivism and the consequences of overregulation on workforce development. The authors also survey the landscape of Florida’s occupational licensing laws and policy reform efforts and present policy proposals to reduce professional licensing barriers for people with criminal records.
Grantee Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Executive Summary
March 13, 2023
Nailing New Labor Models: Exploring Sectoral Bargaining and High-Road Training Partnerships in the Nail Salon Sector
This report from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the UCLA Labor Center explores how partnerships and sectoral boards can build a sustainable and equitable nail salon industry, focusing on two approaches from other sectors. High-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining approaches can be adapted for nail salons but require distinct interventions and capacities for member participation.
Grantee Research
Employer practices
Report
December 10, 2022
The National Study of Workplace Equity
The National Study of Workplace Equity surveyed just over 1,000 workplaces to find that equity is inconsistently implemented across employment systems. Researchers from the Boston College School of Social Work and Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) find that equity is strongest in recruitment and hiring, compensation and benefits, and orientation and onboarding.
Grantee Research
Employer practices
Executive Summary
December 10, 2022
Executive Summary: The National Study of Workplace Equity
In a new study, researchers from Work Equity, an initiative at the Boston College School of Social Work, and SHRM find that much progress needs to be made on equity across the employment lifecycle. Based on a survey of just over 1,000 workplaces, researchers find that equity is implemented inconsistently across 10 discrete employment systems.
Grantee Research