Federal shutdown
Labor force participation
Education
Immigration

In a government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on leave without pay for the duration of the shutdown (and possibly worse, if the threatened layoffs occur). If history is a guide (though no guarantee), federal workers will receive back pay after the shutdown ends, but often federal contractors do not. 

It doesn’t have to be this way →

A strong labor market with high employer demand for workers is a necessity to give as many willing workers as possible a chance for employment. Many workers between 25 and 54 are dropping out of the job search and work. 

Policy choices—from strengthened public care, investments in today’s children, and improving public health—can affect the future growth of labor force participation. Read more

Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school teachers have fallen further behind those of similarly qualified workers who chose other careers, resulting in an teacher pay gap that hit a record high in 2024.

Over the last decade, inflation adjusted weekly wages of teachers declined by $46.39 as they increased by $220.46 for other college graduates. Teachers earned 73.1 cents for every dollar relative to the earnings of other similar professionals.

Closing the pay gap between public teachers and similarly educated professionals is essential to attracting and retaining qualified educators, boosting student achievement, and securing the future of public education. Here’s how →

Expanding it to year-round jobs like meatpacking would lower wages and revenue

The H-2B visa program allows employers to hire migrant workers for temporary jobs in low-wage occupations like landscaping, construction, and hospitality. Employers are not only seeking to increase the size of this program but are lobbying to change its purpose to allow them to hire workers in year-round occupations.

In its present state, the H-2B program is deeply flawed. Its rules undercut U.S. wage standards, and employers in the main H-2B industries engage in rampant wage theft, stealing billions of dollars from workers.

Through an examination of the meatpacking industry, we show the considerable benefits of  a high-road employment model that utilizes green cards—which gives workers full workplace rights and protections—instead of expanding a flawed model like H-2B. Read the analysis

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