Quality Jobs for All: What Would It Take?

At a time of record low unemployment, the problem we now face is not that people don’t have work, but that they don’t have good work. As the economy booms, low wages, limited benefits, and insecure employment are still the reality for many working people. What will it take to make sure everyone in the United States has quality jobs? The Aspen Institute and Urban Institute have been exploring this issue through different vantage points, to better understand the challenges that we face and the implications for policies and practices that improve job quality. And while the issue of quality jobs is one of national importance, solutions also need to respond to the needs of different places and communities across the country and be inclusive of all, regardless of race, gender, or other factors. Governments at all levels, businesses, civic, labor, and community organizations and more, all have roles to play in addressing the need for quality work. What do we know and what do we need to know so that we can build a world of work in which hard work truly does lead to a dignified living? This conversation brings together different experiences and perspectives to explore this question. We feature a senior researcher from the Urban Institute together with Aspen Institute Job Quality Fellows from business, community development finance, and workforce and policy development who are working to create quality jobs in their communities. This event features Sarah Keh (Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Prudential Financial), Amanda Blondeau (Business Services Director, Northern Initiatives), Demetra Nightingale (Institute Fellow, Urban Institute), Rick Plympton (CEO, Optimax Systems), Caryn York (Executive Director, Job Opportunities Task Force), and moderator E.J. Dionne (Columnist, The Washington Post). This event is part of the Working in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program that highlights an array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income workers in the United States and ideas for improving and expanding economic opportunities for working people. We are grateful to the Ford Foundation, Prudential Financial, and the Walmart Foundation for their support of this series. For more information, visit as.pn/workinginamerica. The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity. Learn more at as.pn/eop.