Employment: In an equitable economy, everyone who wants to work would have a good job.
Insights & Analyses
- In 2022, Black and Native American working-age residents had less access to employment opportunities and the highest rates of joblessness, at 28 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
- Between 1980 and 2022, the overall labor force participation rate for those at or above 200 percent poverty, increased from 78 percent to 86 percent, but it remained about the same for Native American workers, rising by only two percentage points (from 79 to 81 percent).
- Since 1990, the labor force participation rate for women has remained below that of men, but the gap has been closing. In 2022, Latinx women had a labor force participation rate of 70 percent, compared to 88 percent for Latinx men.
- The employment-to-population ratio for Latinx immigrants increased from 59 percent to 75 percent between 2000 and 2022. In 2022, US-born Black and Native American adults had the lowest employment-to-population ratios, at 70 percent and 62 percent, respectively.
Drivers of Inequity
A variety of historical and contemporary factors cause Black, Native American, Latinx, and other workers of color to experience unemployment at much higher rates than White workers. Employer discrimination against Black workers has not improved in 25 years: among workers with the same resumes, White applicants receive 36 percent more callbacks than Black applicants and 24 percent more callbacks than Latinx people. In addition, racial segregation and disinvestment mean that students of color have far less access to well-resourced, high-quality schools. Transportation, affordable childcare and housing near job centers, and credit checks are also significant barriers to employment. Finally, racist policing practices and criminal legal system disproportionately incarcerate Black and Latinx men who then face employer discrimination due to their criminal records.
Strategies
Grow an equitable economy: Policies to reach full employment for all
- Grow new good jobs by making smart investments in infrastructure projects, supporting economic development strategies to grow high-opportunity industries, and helping entrepreneurs of color start and scale-up their businesses.
- Reduce employment barriers for people with records by "banning the box" asking about conviction history on job applications (for private as well as public employers).
- Connect unemployed and underemployed workers to the jobs created by new development through targeted local hiring, community workforce agreements, and community benefits agreements.
- Invest a portion of infrastructure investments in job training.
- Implement sector-focused workforce training and placement programs and apprenticeships that create pathways to good jobs for workers with barriers to employment.
- At the federal level, institute a federal jobs guarantee, dedicate 1 percent of infrastructure investments to a fund for inclusive job and contracting supports, set aside a share of public contracts for businesses owned by people of color to mirror area demographics, reform the Community Reinvestment Act to expand access to fair financial products and services for entrepreneurs of color, and ensure that releasees from federal prison receive essential identification documents to support job attainment.
Strategy in Action
The City of Durham increases hiring of people with criminal records. After the City of Durham, North Carolina passed a "ban-the-box" policy in 2011, the proportion of new hires with a criminal record increased from 2 percent to over 15 percent in just three years, with no increase in workplace crimes. The policy removes questions about prior convictions from job applications, allowing an applicant to present his or her qualifications first. As of today, 35 states and over 150 cities have adopted a ban-the-box or fair-chance policy for public employers while 13 states and 18 cities have extended these policies to include private employers as well. In 2015, 19 major US companies pledged to ban the box under the White House's Fair Chance Business Pledge. Read more.
Resources
- Reports: How COVID-19 Is Affecting Black and Latino Families’ Employment and Financial Well-Being; 10 Principles for a Federal Job Guarantee; Exploring Targeted Hire; Despite Continued Job Growth, Long-Term Unemployment Persists; Hiring Bias Blacks And Latinos Face Hasn't Improved In 25 Years
- Data: Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker (Low-Income Employment); Metro Monitor; State of Working America; Understanding Long-Term Employment
