Worker Advancement in the Low-Wage Labor Market: The Importance of Good Jobs:Technical paper

摘要

The need to improve the earnings of low-wage workers remains a challenge for current welfare policy. Despite early concerns about the effect of a surge of workers into the labor market in the late 1990s, the ability of current and former welfare recipients to become employed and retain their jobs has been impressive. But the ability of these workers to advance out of entry-level, low-wage employment has been quite limited. Average hourly earnings of welfare recipients remains in the range of $7-8 per hour, even after years in the labor market. And earnings advancement with work experience among low earners more broadly appears limited as well.