Child Tax Credits Should Promote Work, Not Undermine It
President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ plan to increase taxes and expand federal spending includes a list of changes that would affect most sectors of the economy and discourage a return to work for many of America’s most needy families.
Reconnecting Americans to the Benefits of Work
Why are fewer prime-age Americans in the workforce? Many popular explanations attribute Americans’ declining labor force participation to declining wages, technological change, and international trade.
Occupational Licensing Stands in the Way of Recovery
In the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, there were a record 10.9 million open jobs and 2.2 million more unfilled positions than people looking for work. With unemployment still high, returning more Americans to work continues to be a top priority for both the economic and social recovery...
A Time to Build: Unleashing the Construction Industry to Support American Families
The construction industry in the United States plays a critical role for workers, consumers, and savers. It is a robust source of well-paying jobs, especially for workers who otherwise might struggle for opportunity.
More Jobs Than Workers? Depends On Where You Live
The labor market is going through an unprecedented realignment. Job openings reached a series high of 9.2 million in May 2021, hires and quits are near record rates, and layoff rates are at a record low. At the same time, unemployment remains elevated and labor force participation is still depressed...
Stable Monetary Policy to Connect More Americans to Work
A well-chosen and consistent monetary policy anchor will not solve every problem—and certainly not ones directly related to public health—but it can facilitate the execution of financial and business contracts and shore up the social contract by lowering uncertainty about the future.
The Wealth of Relations: Expanding Opportunity by Strengthening Families, Communities, and Civil Society
For two years, the Social Capital Project has documented trends in associational life—what we do together—and its distribution across the country. With this evidentiary base established, the Project turns to the development of a policy agenda rooted in social capital. Specifically, the focus will be...
Losing Our Minds: Brain Drain across the United States
Over the past 50 years, the United States has experienced major shifts in geographic mobility patterns among its highly-educated citizens. Some states today are keeping and receiving a greater share of these adults than they used to, while many others are both hemorrhaging their homegrown talent and...
Inactive, Disconnected, and Ailing: A Portrait of Prime-Age Men Out of the Labor Force
The share of prime-age men—between the ages of 25 and 54—that is neither working nor looking for work has been rising for decades. This rise has left an increasing number of men outside the world of work, historically an important source of social capital. Research suggests that these me...
The Geography of Social Capital in America
Social capital is almost surely an important factor driving many of our nation’s greatest successes and most serious challenges. Indeed, the withering of associational life is itself one of those challenges. Public policy solutions to such challenges are inherently elusive. But at present, policymak...
