Overview
The federal government has a significant influence on shaping workers’ economic mobility and security. Federal laws, policies, and regulations govern wages, benefits, workplace standards, and protections against discrimination and unsafe working conditions. Federal policy governs income support and social insurance programs such as Social Security, and recent fiscal and monetary policies intended to provide economic relief to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working Knowledge
Worker voice, representation, and power
November 11, 2022
Blog Article
New Federal Industrial Policy Creates Incentives for High-Quality Jobs
The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), alongside the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act, could shape the labor market in ways that benefit both workers and employers in industries poised for growth.
November 11, 2022
Federal policy
June 28, 2022
Blog Article
Roe v. Wade’s Reversal Poses a Disproportionate Threat to Black Women’s Economic Mobility
The June 24 US Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, will undermine Black women’s educational attainment, occupational outcomes, and lifetime earnings.
June 28, 2022
Federal policy
October 12, 2021
Blog Article
Lessons from Unemployment Benefit Expansions during the COVID-19 and Great Recessions
Last week’s jobs report reopens questions about the effects of pandemic-era unemployment insurance (UI) programs while they were in place, the way they were allowed to lapse, and considerations for their reintroduction.
October 12, 2021
Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
July 28, 2022
Worker Power and Economic Mobility: A Landscape Report
This landscape report summarizes empirical evidence on two main pathways for workers to exercise their power in the labor market: the ability to exit their current job for better outside options and organizations and institutions that build worker voice within firms.
July 28, 2022
Job search and matching
July 20, 2022
Search and Matching in Modern Labor Markets: A Landscape Report
This landscape report synthesizes research on how job seekers find work and how employers post and fill open positions in the labor market. It also explores frictions experienced by both parties and implications for workers’ economic mobility.
July 20, 2022
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.
March 29, 2022
Supportive services
March 15, 2022
Expanding Child Care Subsidies to Parents in Education and Training
A fact sheet summarizes findings from a new WorkRise report that models a hypothetical policy scenario where more parents in education and training were eligible for and received public child care subsidies.
March 15, 2022