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Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

brookings.edu

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Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#421

Post by MuffinFlavored »

Ozzie_osman wrote: post #37

Great article, but I find it only takes the "wage" side of the equation and not the "cost" side. I'm not an economic expert but the biggest line items for most people seem to be housing (high and regular), healthcare (high and irregular), education, and childcare. If we fix these I'm sure the equation changes a lot for many, many, people. If the market is broken for pricing these main things, then even if everyone su…

I don’t think you’ll fix high housing costs.

There’s a supply and demand problem. Limited supply (real estate), lots of demand, therefore prices go up. Those who can afford it do pay it and are competing with each other to pay for the property they want. Why would New York or Bay area housing ever go down?

Time for more people to admit they can’t afford to live in the best + most popular places and instead move to “less desirable” places, like Iowa.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#422

Post by bobbydroptables »

jkoudys wrote: post #352
bobbydroptables wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>America has a weird sense of superiority about its lower unemployment numbers vs Canada. I've literally never heard anyone in America discuss Canada's unemployment numbers in any context whatsoever. I think your premise may be off. Canada is also pretty tiny (smaller than California; much smaller GDP than California) so I'm not sure why we would care.

Usually it's in the political context, as a cautionary tale about why you shouldn't fund healthcare/social programs/etc.

I wouldn't describe politicians trying to score cheap political points as "America" having a weird complex. I can promise you the average American does not have any thoughts whatsoever regarding Canada. It's not even on our radar.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#423

Post by foogazi »

jpalawaga wrote: post #400
nostromo wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> public schools are effectively free It's actually even worse than that because you pay for public education even if you don't use it. So in that regard, if you send your kids to private schools, you're paying for their education twice. This makes it very difficult to compete, and as a rayiner pointed out, isn't a real market. I think the best solution to this is vouchers, which is a nice blend of public dollars but…

Controversial opinion: I think everyone should have access to good education, and I don't see why a public system is incapable of providing it. Private systems aren't outcome orientated, they're profit orientated. If a public school and a private school are both given $n to educate a kid, the private option will maximize the proportion they get to keep. Elite schools are a different story because they have significan…

> I think everyone should have access to good education

How do you define everyone, access and good?

Does access === free where I currently live?

If parents can’t afford to live in an area with good schools should they be forced to get better jobs or moved to LCOL area so their kids get a better education?

or no matter where you live or how you live a third party should make sure your kids get a proper education?

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#424

Post by Proziam »

jpalawaga wrote: post #400
nostromo wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> public schools are effectively free It's actually even worse than that because you pay for public education even if you don't use it. So in that regard, if you send your kids to private schools, you're paying for their education twice. This makes it very difficult to compete, and as a rayiner pointed out, isn't a real market. I think the best solution to this is vouchers, which is a nice blend of public dollars but…

Controversial opinion: I think everyone should have access to good education, and I don't see why a public system is incapable of providing it. Private systems aren't outcome orientated, they're profit orientated. If a public school and a private school are both given $n to educate a kid, the private option will maximize the proportion they get to keep. Elite schools are a different story because they have significan…

I am one that actually agrees with the spirit of what you're saying. Unfortunately, where I have to admit shortcomings with that philosophy is that there's no evidence that the government of the United States can reliably yield good education for students. My own public schooling was a nightmare, and I know many who had an equally bad experience.

Part of this is due to the fact that there isn't (and probably shouldn't be) a singular national system for education. Another part is the fact that quality education is insanely high-priced because a parent has to pay for the public and the private system concurrently. This pressure pushes private tuitions upward and makes the private schools more exclusive because they can't take on kids below certain income thresholds at all.

This is one case where I believe regulation has actually hurt the US citizens a lot. No child left behind was a staggering failure, and most people would be better off making their educational choices for their children based on what makes the most sense for them, not based on a legislated prescription of certain topics (or the intentional avoidance of others, namely human health and biology...)

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#425

Post by bsanr2 »

gist wrote: post #250
bsanr2 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the job still needed to get done. Just in terms of basic human decency, maybe we shouldn't encourage abuse and exploitation of workers just because "they can just get a better job."

Who is 'encouraging abuse and exploitation'? I am saying that adversity also creates opportunity. Along those lines we all know of people who grew up poor and that was the thing that made them work hard. Also what makes many immigrants want to come here. This doesn't mean 'make things really bad it's motivating'. My point was more if things are comfortable it can keep people around and prevent them from seeking a bet…

>I am saying that adversity also creates opportunity.

But it doesn't. Occasionally it spurs on action, but just as often, it traumatizes.

>This doesn't mean 'make things really bad it's motivating'.

That's just what you said, it's simply the flipside of the following sentence, and it's untrue. If we have limited time and energy on this planet, every moment in the work you describe is wasted.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#426

Post by itronitron »

scaryclam wrote: post #392
300bps wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

often you won't get hired if you've had more then 8-10 months of unemployment without reasonable explanation. I do a lot of hiring. You are correct and further - literally any gap at all is viewed as suspicious. And there aren't many reasonable explanations that help the situation.

I also do a lot of hiring, and can say that it's also NOT correct. We'll query it, but it's rarely a problem. Different companies have different process and expectations, so let's steer clear of absolute statements like "this is correct" and "this is not true" as it's unhelpful to folks in the situation. Generally speaking, if you have a gap, make sure to explain in a cover letter. These are important and can make th…

Curious to know how you would distinguish between unemployed, volunteer, and self-employed.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#427

Post by contingencies »

jonfw wrote: post #412
contingencies wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You present a false (and somewhat offensive) dichotomy. Here are some more optimistic ideas. If we reconsidered vehicles, everyone could have access to them when desired. If we reconsidered city layouts, everyone could have a home with desired proximity to others without needing to sacrifice either nature or privacy. If we reconsidered education, medical care and communications infrastructure, they would be universal…

These are very optimistic ideas. But good ideas are actionable. Do you have any of those?

Sure. Wikiprojects (admin), cryptocurrency (exchange architect), open source (contributor/maintainer), currently working on kiosk format automated fulfillment of personalized meals directly from fresh ingredients (as an entrepreneur with my own money on the line) to contribute to food safety/security challenges (and hopefully recover costs). What about you?

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#429

Post by [deleted] »

pdimitar wrote: post #420
300bps wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

often you won't get hired if you've had more then 8-10 months of unemployment without reasonable explanation. I do a lot of hiring. You are correct and further - literally any gap at all is viewed as suspicious. And there aren't many reasonable explanations that help the situation.

So... "I gathered savings and wanted to rest for half a year" is suspicious? Maybe I am misunderstanding here.

[deleted]

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#430

Post by aleph_naught »

NTDF9 wrote: post #410
jorblumesea wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> would be expand the Federal's reserves responsibilities into the fiscal space. This is a very complex solution for a problem we already have the tools to solve. Politicians should just execute proper fiscal policy instead of leaning on the fed for every solution. We already have a decent system for this, which has historically worked, but no one is using it. Other countries are able to execute proper fiscal policy…

> Other countries are able to execute proper fiscal policy without complex central banking paradigms or measures. Which countries?

Historically we've had the opposite problem. Countries tend to move toward austerity at the wrong moment in time, due to political pressures or pressure from debtors. (Though this is much more difficult to navigate when the country's debt is denominated in a foreign currency e.g. Japan with 200%+ debt to gdp which is having a hard time meeting inflation targets vs Argentina).

Even today, the European Central Bank is signaling that it has effectively done all it can do (without permanently harming the banking sector with negative rates), and that it is time to open the doors to fiscal stimulus; but, Germany, which is going through a manufacturing recession, is loath to update their constitution to facilitate fiscal stimulus.

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