Labor Force Participation

Understanding Trends in U.S. Labor Force Participation (VIDEO)

By Karen Dynan and Jay C. Shambaugh·December 3, 2018
Harvard University and George Washington University and The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution

Excerpt from webinar with Karen Dynan (Harvard University), Jay Shambaugh (George Washington University, and The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution), and Eduardo Porter (New York Times), October 23, 2018. A collaboration between EconoFact and The Hamilton Project, Brookings.

The Issue:

The share of ...
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The Economic Gains from Legalizing DREAMers

By Francesc Ortega·January 23, 2018
Queens College, City University of New York

The Issue:

There are approximately 3 million residents of the United States who were brought here as children and whose parents do not have legal residence. These DREAMers account for 1.3 percent of the population. About 1.6 million of these individuals meet the eligibility requirements for DACA, the Deferred Action ...
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What Happened To Women’s Rising Participation in the Workforce?

By Sandra Black, Audrey Breitwieser and Diane Schanzenbach·December 6, 2017
University of Texas at Austin, The Brookings Institution and Northwestern University

The Issue:

For decades, the share of women who are employed was steadily rising in the United States, contributing to economic growth and serving as a countervailing force to a slow decline in the share employed among men. In recent years however, the upward trend among women has reversed: Labor force participation ...
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Opioids and Early Death in America

By Ellen Meara, Nancy Morden and Jonathan Skinner·September 23, 2017
Dartmouth College

The Issue:

Two disturbing trends in the United States have surfaced during the past several decades. First, deaths involving prescription or illicit opioids have taken more than 300,000 lives since the late 1990s. Second, death rates among non-Hispanic white, middle-aged Americans have increased dramatically during ...
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Where Have All the (Male) Workers Gone?

By Sandra Black and Wilson Powell·July 10, 2017
University of Texas, Austin and Harvard Kennedy School

The Issue:

Does the unemployment rate of 4.4 percent provide an accurate picture of the health of the United States’ economy? This is almost a full percentage point below its pre-recession average. But the unemployment rate only accounts for those who are actively looking for a job. If an unemployed worker becomes ...
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The Success of the Earned Income Tax Credit

By Hilary Hoynes·May 8, 2017
University of California, Berkeley

The Issue:

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a major anti-poverty program that benefits both children and adults. It is a program with wide bipartisan support since, by providing a tax credit to lower-income working families in a way that incentivizes work, it both promotes greater labor force participation ...
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Women and Paid Work: Is the U.S. Falling Behind?

By Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn·March 2, 2017
Cornell University

The Issue:

Sustained economic growth requires, among other factors, growth in the labor force. The current low unemployment rate of 4.8 percent suggests that there is currently little slack in labor markets, and little scope for a growing labor force to foster growth. But the unemployment rate does not take into ...
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