• Many businesses have attributed hiring difficulties to the extra federal unemployment payments that continued even as the COVID emergency subsided.
• In a recent Harvard/HarrisX poll, an overwhelming 76% of Americans said people are “staying on unemployment because they can make more money.”
• Minimum wage hikes yield job losses and disincentivize hiring, especially among those who are less educated and with lower skills—people who need jobs the most.

By: Carrie Sheffield

• But nuclear is underutilized in the United States despite the increased calls to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
• Instead, environmental purists advocate for renewables only, such as the wind turbines that shut down when Texas faced freezing temperatures in February 2021.
• This has caused America’s nuclear power capabilities to remain at the same level for the past three decades while increased energy consumption has led to overall higher carbon emissions.

By: Kelsey Bolar & Charlotte Whelan

• States vary in their occupational licensing requirements, creating significant challenges for workers who cross state lines to keep their licenses in good standing.
  
• States should make every effort to eliminate excessive licenses or reduce the onerous requirements for licenses in their jurisdiction.
  
• States should conduct regular cost-benefit analyses of their licensing systems to determine if they truly serve a public good and remove any licensing requirements that do not.

By: Patrice Onwuka

• Nearly half (46 percent) of the independent contractor workforce is female.
• Women are more likely than men to be employed in an alternative work arrangement.
• The top three reasons women cited for working in the gig economy were flexibility (44 percent), income (38 percent), and building a business (25 percent).
• Flexible contract work allows women to balance employment with caregiving for children, sick spouses, and aging parents or other priorities.

By: Patrice Onwuka

• Low-income workers are hurt most by payroll taxes taken from earnings to fund paid leave entitlements and are less likely to take benefits.
• They are also more likely to lose job opportunities: As employment costs go up, employers will seek to minimize their costs and exposure by reducing staff.
• One-size-fits-all government programs will discourage the creation of flexible options, such as telecommuting, job sharing, and part-time arrangements.
• Employers may also see women, who are statistically more likely to use paid leave benefits, as less attractive hires, especially for management positions.

By: Carrie Lukas