Labor Markets | Econofact

What Explains the Wages of Undocumented Workers?

By Amy Hsin and Francesc Ortega·July 24, 2019
Queens College, City University of New York

The Issue:

Undocumented foreign workers earn lower wages than legal immigrants and native workers with similar skills. What are the reasons for this wage gap? The answer is important for understanding the economic effects of a range of policies, including providing driver’s licenses to undocumented workers (as

Do Summer Youth Employment Programs Work?

By Alicia Sasser Modestino·June 28, 2019
School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

The Issue:

Many believe that early work experience — such as that provided by summer jobs — can keep teens out of trouble,foster positive traits such as independence and responsibility, and teach interpersonal skills that can enhance their future employment prospects and earnings potential. And that this

Immigrant Earnings and Out-Migration from the United States

By Randall Akee·May 8, 2019
University of California, Los Angeles

The Issue:

Immigrants currently make up about one out of every six workers in the U.S. civilian labor force. While the share of immigrants in the labor force has grown over the past few decades, immigration is not a one-way flow into the United States: There is significant turnover, with many of the foreign-born

The Mexican Border and U.S. Trade: What Would Be the Impact of a Border Closure?

By Kadee Russ and Aaron Sojourner·April 13, 2019
University of California, Davis and University of Minnesota

(Click here for state by state sales to Mexico.)

The Issue:

Recently, the Trump Administration proposed closing the U.S. border with Mexico. The United States has strong economic ties with Mexico and such an action could have ripple effects across the country. Concerns about the possibility of a closure following

Is the Skills Gap Real? Changes in Employer Skill Requirements During the Great Recession

By Alicia Sasser Modestino·March 8, 2019
School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

The Issue:

Since the Great Recession, employers have cited a skills gap in which workers lack the education and experience needed to fill vacant jobs. In response, federal and state policymakers have called for increased efforts for training and retraining of workers to alleviate this mismatch in the labor market.

Concentrated Poverty and the Disconnect Between Jobs and Workers

By David Neumark·January 22, 2019
University of California, Irvine

The Issue:

High levels of joblessness have been characteristic of extremely high-poverty neighborhoods in primarily urban settings. Many challenges stand in the way of generating jobs in these areas. These include low skills among potential workers, inadequate and decaying infrastructure, racial discrimination in ...
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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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Who Benefits from a Higher Minimum Wage?

By Jonathan Meer·November 27, 2018
Texas A&M University

The Issue:

Raising the minimum wage is broadly viewed as a policy that combats poverty. Most of the focus of the debate over the minimum wage has been on whether raising it leads to job losses, but an overlooked key point is which workers see their wages rise with an increase in the minimum wage.

The workers who

How Can We Know if There is Discrimination in Hiring?

By David Neumark·October 27, 2018
University of California, Irvine

The Issue:

Groups of workers that differ by personal characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, past criminal record, physical appearance or disability often exhibit measurable differences in wages and employment. However, it is difficult to identify and measure the extent to which differences ...
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