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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.

Research Brief

The U.S. Workforce Development and Employment System Needs an Overhaul

Sep 19, 2019

Despite globalization, technology, and demographic changes, the U.S. approach to education, training, and workforce development still operates on a 20th-century model. Americans need a system that provides on-ramps for transitioning individuals to access opportunities while suitably matching workers and jobs.
Research Brief

What Policies Are Most Effective at Incentivizing Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders?

Feb 14, 2018

Ex-offenders are less likely to be hired than members of other disadvantaged groups, and former felons with poor economic outcomes are more likely to return to criminal activity. A survey of 100 employers examined how they responded to incentives to hire people with felony criminal records.

Explore Employment and Unemployment

Report

Report

Breaking Barriers: A Rapid Rehousing and Employment Pilot Program for Adults on Probation in Los Angeles County: Evaluation Report

This report presents early findings on the progress of the Breaking Barriers program, which provides Los Angeles County adults on probation with a time-limited housing subsidy, case management, and employment supports.

Mar 31, 2020
Q&A

The Economic Wallop of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

As Washington continues to weigh economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are insights from RAND experts on how aid money might be best allocated, how this crisis compares to the 2008 recession, what business communities can do right now, and more.

Mar 26, 2020
Q&A

The Social Distancing Economy: Q&A with RAND Experts

Congress and the White House are weighing economic policies to help people acutely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Here are insights from RAND experts on what might be effective in terms of fiscal policy, stimulus spending, and emergency relief to affected workers.

Mar 18, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Using Workforce Data to Plan Higher Education Degree Programs

In this chapter, we summarize some findings and lessons from a series of projects for the state of Texas to help improve the alignment of higher education degree programs and workforce needs.

Feb 12, 2020
Journal Article

Unmet Need for Workplace Accommodation

The ways in which workplace accommodation is measured in national surveys have implications for identifying accommodation-sensitive individuals (those on the margin of working or not, depending on whether they are accommodated), and estimating unmet need for accommodation.

Feb 7, 2020
Report

Report

Online Outsourcing: Prospects for Increasing Youth Employment and Reducing Poverty in Indonesia

In this Perspective, the authors review the potential benefits and drawbacks of online outsourcing, including microwork and freelancing, with special reference to its potential for youth employment and poverty reduction in Indonesia.

Feb 5, 2020
Content

Ann Korologos: Expanding the Impact of RAND Research

Former Labor Secretary Ann Korologos has been a part of RAND for more than 20 years, as a leader on the Board of Trustees and as a donor. Her most recent gift includes $500,000 to support the Pardee RAND Graduate School and $2 million to help researchers build on timely studies and expand their impact.

Jan 23, 2020
Essay

Education and Employment Should Be One System, Not Two

Too many American workers aren't getting the education and training they need to compete in the 21st century. We need to revamp the entire system of educating and employing people. And that system needs to ensure equitable access to opportunities and lifelong learning.

Jan 7, 2020
Periodical

Periodical

RAND Review: January-February 2020

Feature stories spotlight research on America's fentanyl crisis and new approaches to clinical guideline development. The Commentary column features terrorism expert Colin Clarke on the threat of white supremacists in the United States.

Jan 6, 2020
Research Brief

Nearly Half of Retirees Would Return to Work

Overall, older workers report having more meaningful work and more workplace flexibility than their younger peers. Nearly half of retirees say they would return to work under the right conditions—and a large number already have.

Nov 12, 2019
Commentary

Do Workers' Protections Need to Depend on Employee Status? Looking Beyond AB 5

As the nature of work evolves and the relationships between workers and firms become increasingly complex, it's possible that disentangling worker protections from worker classification rules will become a policy option worth further exploration.

Oct 17, 2019
Report

Report

Effectiveness of Screened, Demand-Driven Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers: An Evaluation of the New Orleans Career Pathway Training

The authors of this report examine the implementation and effectiveness of a New Orleans job training program that helped lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for and find skilled jobs in particular industries.

Oct 17, 2019
Research Brief

What Works for Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers

Can workforce development programs resolve the mismatch between the talent available and the skills in demand? An evaluation of the New Orleans Career Pathways program offers insights that should be helpful to anyone striving to create or improve such programs.

Oct 17, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Does Home Production Replace Consumption Spending? Evidence from Shocks in Housing Wealth in the Great Recession

This paper sheds new light on the importance of home production in welfare analyses by focusing on the elasticity of substitution estimated over the retired population, thus holding constant non-work time, but also on the share of spending that is potentially substitutable.

Sep 20, 2019
Report

Report

Reimagining the Workforce Development and Employment System for the 21st Century and Beyond

U.S. education, training, and workforce development have not significantly changed despite 21st-century needs. To address this, RAND Corporation researchers developed a systems-level, blue-sky approach to rethinking system functions and features.

Sep 19, 2019
Report

Report

The Appalachia Partnership Initiative's Investments in K–12 Education and Catalyzing the Community: Reflections from 2014 Through 2017

RAND researchers assessed the Appalachia Partnership Initiative's (API's) investments in K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and initiatives related to catalyzing the community from October 2014 to December 2017.

Aug 29, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Business Cycles and Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment

The relationship between business cycles and health is theoretically complex. In a seminal paper, Ruhm (2000) outlined a series of economic mechanisms through which business cycles may influence health.

Aug 6, 2019
Commentary

How Work-Based Learning Can Bring Employers and Students Together

Work-based learning experiences help college grads better prepare for work. WBL programs often serve as a workforce pipeline for companies. WBL is also successful at the K-12 level and at "upskilling" adult workers. There are several ways Congress could foster and strengthen WBL.

Jul 24, 2019
Blog

Truth Decay, Principals, Augmented Reality: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on media literacy education as a way to fight "Truth Decay," turning screen time into outdoor time, the importance of school principals, and more.

Jul 12, 2019

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