Demographic disparities

Overview

Many workers in the US experience limited opportunities and are over- or underrepresented in certain kinds of jobs because of occupational segregation and discrimination. They are affected in adverse and unequal ways in the labor market based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, and other demographic characteristics. WorkRise generates evidence on and elevates our understanding of how demographic disparities and inequities can be addressed to promote economic mobility for all workers and create a more equitable labor market.

Working Knowledge

Demographic disparities March 22, 2022

New and Noteworthy: Research on gender wage gaps, remedies for occupational segregation, and more

March is Women’s History Month, and labor experts and advocates are rightfully focused on persistent wage disparities between women and men despite laws against gender discrimination. Our column this month highlights new research focused on gender pay gaps.

Archana Pyati

Job search and matching February 22, 2022

Activating Pathways for Mobility: A Q&A with Opportunity@Work

WorkRise grantee Opportunity@Work is building a movement to dismantle structural inequities in the labor market to expand opportunity to workers without college degrees.

Archana Pyati

Demographic disparities February 22, 2022

New and Noteworthy: Research on discrimination in lending, a new equity-focused institute for direct care workers, and more

Structural racism has shaped the labor market and employment experiences of Black workers, but evidence that leads to action can help dismantle harmful policies and practices and rebuild equitable ones in their place.

Archana Pyati

Economic context December 16, 2021

As Jobs Return, the Long-Term Unemployed Remain At Risk of Missing Out on the Recovery

Key takeaways from the AARP and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's virtual event examining current labor market issues, The Great Resignation and Long-Term Unemployment.

Andrew Boardman

Research

Federal policy March 29, 2022

Income Inequality, Race, and the EITC

New grantee research finds the 1993 expansion of the earned income tax credit reduced income inequality among Black and white households in the lower half of the income distribution through a significant employment response among Black households.
Job search and matching January 14, 2022

Rise with the STARs

New research from WorkRise grantee Opportunity@Work demonstrates the harm and exclusion workers without four-year degrees who are “skilled through alternative routes” (STARs) experience in the labor market.

Papia Debroy, Justin Heck

Demographic disparities September 28, 2020

Racial Inequality in the Labor Market and Employment Opportunities

This brief explores the persistent inequities and disparities in outcomes experienced by people of color in the U.S. labor market through key data points, delves into root causes based on a review of the evidence, and identifies key gaps in our knowledge of why and how labor market inequality endures.

K. Steven Brown