Join Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute, for the fourth installment in Urban’s conversation series, Evidence to Action. During this virtual event, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D- WI) will discuss her efforts to create a subsidized employment program. Following that, Demetra Nightingale, Institute fellow at the Urban Institute, and Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co–executive director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, will join Wartell to explore why subsidized jobs could be integral to our economic recovery. 

Over 30 million Americans have filed unemployment claims since the pandemic began, and that number is expected to rise. But we know from previous recessions that certain policy tools can quickly boost employment. This conversation will explore what we know about the unemployment crisis so far, what the CARES Act and other relief legislation have done to maintain employment levels, and specific actions policymakers could take to preserve and create jobs—including enacting a subsidized jobs program in a timely manner.

Urban is bringing evidence-based insights to this crisis, focusing on solutions that advance equity and upward mobility. Each week, Urban experts will speak with changemakers from the government, philanthropic, and private sectors about the knowledge they need to help us respond to the crisis, recover, and become more resilient. 

Related Materials

• Critical Value: How Can We Address Historic Unemployment Rates (Urban Institute)​

• Fighting Poverty with Jobs: Projecting the Impacts of a National Subsidized Employment Program (Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality)

• How COVID-19 Is Affecting Black and Latino Families’ Employment and Financial Well-Being (Urban Institute)

• How Government Jobs Programs Could Boost Employment (Urban Institute)

• Improving TANF’s Countercyclicality Through Increased Basic Assistance and Subsidized Jobs (The Hamilton Project)

• Indivar Dutta-Gupta; Julie Kerksick: Subsidized Jobs Programs Work (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• Lessons Learned from 40 Years of Subsidized Employment Programs (Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality)

• Where Low-Income Jobs Are Being Lost to COVID-19 (Urban Institute)

• Working to Reduce Poverty: A National Subsidized Employment Proposal (The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences)

Evidence to Action Series

The Evidence to Action conversation series elevates the voices of leaders and changemakers responding to, recovering from, and building resilience during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Urban Institute was built for this moment. We answer tough questions with unbiased, rigorous research and evidence-based solutions. For 50 years, we have studied what it takes to strengthen social safety net programs, dismantle structural racism, protect workers and families, and build community resilience. Using advanced analytics, data science, technology, and decades of expertise, we equip changemakers with the facts and insights they need to accelerate solutions.

Until further notice, all Urban Institute events will be online.
Watch our virtual events live or come back later for the recording.

Send any inquiries regarding this event to [email protected].