Employment and Unemployment

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An individual's education, age, and health status may present barriers or opportunities to employability, just as a region's economy, tax base, and number of immigrants and emigrants may affect job availability. RAND research examines the impact of a range of policies and forces—personal, regional, and global—on employment and unemployment.

  • Doug Hassebroek eats breakfast while on a video conference call at his home in Brooklyn, April 24, 2020, photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

    Report

    COVID-19 and the Changing Nature of Work

    Jun 18, 2020

    Between February and May, one in six U.S. workers lost their jobs. Most were either laid off or unable to work because of coronavirus restrictions. The ability to telecommute protected against job loss. But of course not all jobs are conducive to telecommuting.

  • Women at Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt, October 2008, photo by Claudia Wiens/Alamy

    Report

    Women in Egypt Face Barriers to Employment

    Apr 21, 2020

    Large gains in educational attainment among women in Egypt have not been matched with gains in the workplace. Obstacles preventing them from securing employment include tensions between work and family responsibilities, lack of mobility, wage gaps, and fear of sexual harassment.

Explore Employment and Unemployment

  • Blog

    Preparing for a COVID-19 Election, Hurricane Response, North Korea: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on preparing for a COVID-19 election, how the pandemic is affecting artists, North Korea's deadly artillery, and more.

    Aug 7, 2020

  • People socially distance as they protest in support of laid-off hotel workers without healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Los Angeles, California, July 23, 2020, photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

    Commentary

    L.A. Has the Nation's Highest Unemployment. For Some Groups, It's Even Worse Than That.

    Los Angeles and its neighboring counties are among the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 recession. The shockingly high average unemployment rates only tell part of the story, however. For the poor and some racial and ethnic groups, the jobs picture is far worse.

    Aug 6, 2020

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Crisis Beyond the Crises: MENA's Youth Unemployment Problem

    An unwavering commitment to fostering youth employment- and thus to overcome the crisis beyond the crises- seems necessary to ensure a prosperous future for the youthful MENA region, and critical to guarantee stability and security in the time to come.

    Aug 5, 2020

  • Ballet dancer on stage in an empty theater, photo by vgajic/Getty Images

    Commentary

    The Pandemic Is a Disaster for Artists

    The arts as we know them are likely to be shut down for the foreseeable future and the vast majority of artists have likely lost some or all of their income. How many artists are out of work, and what could be done to help them?

    Aug 4, 2020

  • Benefits of Job Sharing

    Multimedia

    The Benefits of Job Sharing

    RAND associate economist Jason Ward explains how job sharing may help to reduce the economic shock of COVID-19 and prevent layoffs.

    Aug 3, 2020

  • Multimedia

    From the Community Corrections Lens

    In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, Veronica Cunningham and Nicole Jarrett offer their perspectives on the next steps that policymakers, practitioners, and employers can take to equalize employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records. RAND's Dionne Barnes-Proby hosts.

    Jul 29, 2020

  • Blog

    Reopenining Schools, Affordable Housing, Unemployment: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the debate about reopening schools, how a decline in commercial real estate demand could help address the housing crisis, challenges facing the U.S. unemployment system, and more.

    Jul 24, 2020

  • People line up outside a career center, hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claims, Frankfort, Kentucky, June 18, 2020, photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters

    Commentary

    Is the U.S. Stuck with a Fixed Add-On for Unemployment?

    When COVID-19 led to millions of Americans losing their jobs, Congress moved to increase unemployment benefits by $600 a week. What should happen when those extra benefits expire?

    Jul 23, 2020

  • A man walks past the shuttered Richard Rodgers Theatre, home of the popular musical “Hamilton,” in New York, July 2, 2020, photo by Mike Segar/Reuters

    Commentary

    Arts and Cultural Workers Are Especially Vulnerable to the Pandemic

    Workers in the arts and cultural industries could be especially vulnerable to the economic shocks of COVID-19. As the United States reopens and decides its future, it should recognize these vulnerabilities, as well as the benefits that the arts and cultural industries offer.

    Jul 23, 2020

  • Multimedia

    Practitioners’ Views on Barriers and Opportunities

    In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, Joshua Miller, Toney L. Earl Jr., Tony Lewis Jr., and Andrew Morton discuss strategies for overcoming barriers and improving employment outcomes through reentry, community supervision, and employer-driven programs.

    Jul 22, 2020

  • Mature Black women working on a computer at home, photo by Goodboy Picture Company/Getty Images

    Commentary

    National Security and Workplace Flexibility Aren't Incompatible After All

    For years, the U.S. Defense Department dismissed workplace flexibility as being incompatible with national security. But during the pandemic, flexibility became a matter of survival for all employers, including Defense. The question now is whether it will keep recent adaptations or go back to its rigid ways.

    Jul 17, 2020

  • Blog

    COVID Learning Loss, Russian Trolls, Artificial Intelligence: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on helping students recover learning losses, fighting Russian trolls, racial disparity in unemployment benefits, the race for AI leadership, and more.

    Jul 17, 2020

  • Multimedia

    Certification, Background Checks, and Stigma

    In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, Peter Leasure, Michael Vuolo, and Naomi F. Sugie present evidence from employer and job-seeker studies on Ban-the-Box, Certificates of Relief, and background checks.

    Jul 15, 2020

  • Whitney Maddox and DeShaun Bradford stand in line with hundreds of others outside a career center in Frankfort, Kentucky, hoping for assistance with their unemployment claim, June 18, 2020, photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters

    Commentary

    The Racial Disparity in Unemployment Benefits

    Economic racial inequality in America cannot be solved through unemployment insurance, but it certainly shouldn't be exacerbated by it. And yet, Black workers are less financially supported during unemployment, simply by virtue of where they live.

    Jul 15, 2020

  • Episode 1 of Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records

    Multimedia

    How Do People Stop Committing Crimes?

    In this Events @ RAND podcast based on the Career Prospects for People with Criminal Records Symposium held at RAND in 2019, senior policy researcher Shawn D. Bushway explains the concept of desistance, or how and when people with criminal records stop offending.

    Jul 8, 2020

  • The Unequal Nature of Damage from COVID-19

    Multimedia

    The Unequal Nature of the Damage from COVID-19

    Shanthi Nataraj, senior economist with the RAND Corporation, explains which communities and businesses have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Jul 7, 2020

  • An employee of a pizza restaurant talks to a customer in Austin, Texas, June 28, 2020, photo by Sergio Flores/Reuters

    Commentary

    COVID-19's Depletion of Entry-Level Summer Jobs Can Have Long-Lasting Effects

    Summer is typically when employment for young workers is at its highest. One of the many costs of the pandemic is lower employment rates. For young workers, it's not just an issue of lost wages; there is also an effect on their personal job history.

    Jul 6, 2020

  • Report

    Report

    How small businesses are coping with the impact of COVID-19: Results from a survey in Turkey and the Middle East

    SPARK, an NGO supporting young people's access to education and employment, commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a survey to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East and Turkey.

    Jul 6, 2020

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Addressing Employment Obstacles for Young Syrian Refugee Women

    This Note builds on research covering the three countries with the highest concentration of Syrian refugees displaced since 2011: Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon.

    Jun 30, 2020

  • The grill is nearly empty at dinner hour at Ben's Chili Bowl during the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C., April 30, 2020, photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

    Commentary

    A Path to Recovery from COVID-19 for Small Businesses

    The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered small businesses around the United States. We spoke with 21 small business owners to learn more about the challenges they are facing and how they might best be helped.

    Jun 25, 2020

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