The Urban Institute has tracked job trends for four decades, following unskilled workers during the 1990s boom, welfare leavers taking jobs, and, more recently, older workers during the recession. Our experts study workforce development, disability and employment, and the low-skill labor market. Read more.
In 1965's The Negro Family: The Case for National Actions, Daniel Patrick Moynihan described a "tangle of pathologies" --from disintegrating families to poor educational outcomes, weak job prospects, concentrated neighborhood poverty, dysfunctional communities, and crime--that would create a self-perpetuating cycle of deprivation, hardship, and inequality for black families. Today, although social progress has created opportunities for many members of the black community, the United States still struggles with many of the problems Moynihan identified. If we don’t enhance economic opportunities and social equity for black families, we may spend the next 50 years lamenting our continued lack of progress.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 report, "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," provoked a firestorm of debate in its probing of the roots of black poverty and the decline of the black nuclear family. Nearly five decades later, "The Moynihan Report Revisited" gauges how the circumstances of black families have changed and how they compare with other racial and ethnic groups; documents how blacks still suffer from intersecting disadvantages that Moynihan referred to as a "tangle of pathologies"; and suggests ways to improve the circumstances of black families and reduce racial disparities.
Research evidence of pre-reform job lock and empirical research demonstrating a significant increase in self-employment under health care reforms or availability of Medicare benefits, strongly suggests that self-employment will increase as a consequence of full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Taking into account the most recent findings in the economic literature on this topic, we make a rough estimate that the number of self-employed people will be 1.5 million higher under the ACA than it would otherwise have been. Relative increases in self-employment will vary across states as a function of pre-ACA market reforms already in place.
The trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program for firms was authorized by the Trade Act of 1974, to assist manufacturing firms adversely affected by increased international trade with companies that produce products imported at increased levels and have declining sales and employment. The report presents the analyses and findings of business management, technical assistance and current processes provided to firms.
In this Washington Post commentary, Robert Lerman and Stuart Eizenstat argue that the U.S. manufacturing sector is poised for a comeback, but faces serious workforce challenges. To avoid squandering the opportunity to sustain a manufacturing resurgence, the U.S. must match the quality and quantity of skills training achieved in many other countries. One way to do this is a 21st-century apprenticeship program. By training youth and adults through a combined work-based learning and classroom instruction program leading to a recognized and valued occupational credential, apprenticeships can increase employment, while insuring a close match between the skills learned and the skills required.
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