Moving the Needle: What Tight Labor Markets Do for the Poor

This timely investigation reveals how sustained tight labor markets improve the job prospects and life chances of America’s most vulnerable households.

Most research on poverty focuses on the damage caused by persistent unemployment. But what happens when jobs are plentiful and workers are hard to come by? Moving the Needle examines how very low unemployment boosts wages at the bottom, improves benefits, lengthens job ladders, and pulls the unemployed into a booming job market.

Drawing on ...