Source: Author's calculations based on Current Population Data on employment, population, and usual weekly earnings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics..Get the data
If policymakers reduce the Black jobs deficit, they will improve economic conditions for Black families, Black neighborhoods, and ultimately the entire United States. When more Americans are living up to their full economic potential, the country is stronger. Two steps to achieve these goals would be (1) to commit to anti-discrimination and equal opportunity in hiring, and (2) to invest in subsidized employment and economic development programs in disadvantaged communities.
There are numerous, effective model subsidized employment programs. For example, with the New Hope for Families and Children program, after individuals’ enrollment in the program ended, there continued to be higher rates of employment, earnings and children’s academic achievement among the participants. The program had such positive outcomes that it is estimated to pay for itself in the long run. With smart investments, policymakers can create a more economically productive society for all.
Algernon Austin is Director, Race and Economic Justice at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Algernon has conducted research and writing on issues of race and racial inequality for over 20 years. His current primary focus is on the low rate of employment in Black America, one of the three major labor market challenges facing this population, and on using subsidized employment as a tool to address this problem. Austin also has an interest in social housing, infrastructure, racial wealth inequality, and other topics at the intersection of race and the economy.
Austin has a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University, and he taught sociology as a faculty member at Wesleyan University. He has held positions at the Economic Policy Institute, the Center for Global Policy Solutions, Dēmos, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He has discussed racial inequality on PBS, CNN, NPR, and other national television and radio networks.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research promotes democratic debate on issues that affect people’s lives, in the US and other parts of the world.
Through rigorous, independent research and analysis we strive to provide the general public and policymakers with the tools to better understand the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among various policy options.
Toward this end, CEPR conducts both research and public education. Our research is oriented towards filling important gaps in the understanding of particular domestic and foreign policy issues, or the impact of specific policies. The public education portion of our mission presents the findings of research, both conducted by CEPR and others, in a manner that allows broad segments of the public to know exactly what is at stake in major policy debates.
CEPR was co-founded by economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot. Our Advisory Board includes Nobel Laureate economist Joseph E. Stiglitz; Janet Gornick, Professor at the CUNY Graduate School and Director of the Luxembourg Income Study; and Richard B. Freeman, Professor of Economics at Harvard University.
Donate to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
