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• 12.21.21

  What’s Holding Back Employment in the Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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  Rachel Widra Mark E. Schweitzer

  Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that five million jobs lost during the pandemic have not been recovered, but it is difficult to ascertain how many workers will return to available jobs. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey includes a detailed set of reasons for nonemployment, including households’ responses to the pandemic that provide a new perspective on reasons for not working. Among prime-age workers, reasons for nonemployment during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic have shifted substantially from mostly labor demand reasons to primarily labor supply inhibitors. At this point, most nonemployment is connected to three categories: sickness and concerns about COVID-19; child- and eldercare responsibilities; and the residual category “other reasons.” The persistence of these answers and the characteristics of individuals’ providing these answers point to barriers to fully recovering prior employment rates. Read More

• 12.20.21

  Boomerang Kids in the Pandemic: How High-Income Families Are Their Own Safety Net

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  Rachel Widra André Victor D. Luduvice

  In this Economic Commentary, we use the Current Population Survey to identify and examine the influx of young adults who moved in with their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic—the so-called boomerang kids—and how being in their family home influences their labor market decisions and sensitivity to occupational risk relative to that of other young adults. We find that most boomerang kids come from high-income families that can financially support them through nonemployment spells that are, on average, longer than those of young adults not living with their parents. Young adults living with their parents are also more responsive to the risk of COVID-19 exposure in the workplace and are less likely to work in occupations with high exposure risk. Read More

• 12.20.21

  Evaluating Homeownership as the Solution to Wealth Inequality

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  Daniel R. Carroll Ross Cohen-Kristiansen

  Homeownership presents an opportunity to accumulate wealth, making it an appealing vehicle for reducing wealth inequality. We find that the opportunity for leveraged returns can lead to wealth gains among lower-income households but note that homeownership for low-income homeowners carries risks that are higher for them than for high-income homeowners. Read More