California's 2012 Workers' Compensation Reforms Helped Replace Wages and Offset Earnings Losses After the Great Recession

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Dworsky ◽  
Seth Seabury ◽  
Frank Neuhauser ◽  
Ujwal Kharel ◽  
Roald Euller
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Workers Compensation ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Earnings Losses

scholarly journals Policies to Help the Working Class in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Lessons from the Great Recession

2021 ◽  
Vol 695 (1) ◽  
pp. 314-330
Author(s):  
Richard V. Burkhauser ◽  
Kevin Corinth ◽  
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Slow Recovery ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Earnings Losses ◽  
Persistent Unemployment ◽  
Economic Well Being

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated government-mandated shutdowns caused a historic shock to the U.S. economy and a disproportionate job loss concentrated among the working class. While an unprecedented social safety net policy response successfully offset earnings losses among lower-wage workers, the risk of continued and persistent unemployment remains higher among the working class. The key lesson from the Great Recession is that strong economic growth and a hot labor market do more to improve the economic well-being of the working class and historically disadvantaged groups than a slow recovery that relies on safety net policies to help replace lost earnings. Thus, the best way to prevent a “k-shaped” recovery is to ensure that safety net policies do not interfere with a return to the strong pre-pandemic economy once the health risk subsides and that progrowth policies that incentivize business investment and hiring are maintained.

scholarly journals Sources of Displaced Workers’ Long-Term Earnings Losses

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (10) ◽  
pp. 3231-3266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Lachowska ◽  
Alexandre Mas ◽  
Stephen A. Woodbury
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Displaced Workers ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Hourly Wage ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Wage Rates ◽  
Earnings Losses ◽  
Wage Premiums

We estimate the magnitudes of reduced earnings, work hours, and wage rates of workers displaced during the Great Recession using linked employer-employee panel data from Washington state. Displaced workers’ earnings losses occurred mainly because hourly wage rates dropped at the time of displacement and recovered sluggishly. Lost employer-specific premiums explain only 17 percent of these losses. Fully 70 percent of displaced workers moved to employers paying the same or higher wage premiums than the displacing employers, but these workers nevertheless suffered substantial wage rate losses. Loss of valuable specific worker-employer matches explains more than one-half of the wage losses. (JEL E32, J22, J31, J63, R23)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document