Impacts of Changes in the Labor Market on Earnings Growth and Inequality

The rise of income inequality in the U.S. may be in part a consequence of the loss of "good manufacturing jobs" and middle skill occupations. This research project will examine the earnings paths and career trajectories of workers who leave these jobs. Sacerdote will study outcomes for workers and their families when workers separate from middle skill occupations and from employment in manufacturing and construction.  Furthermore, he is examining the degree to which some occupations, geographic locations, and demographic groups were hit harder by the COVID-19 recession.  He will examine whether workers face greater hardship if they are in a job that cannot be performed remotely. And he will ask whether the children of these workers are less likely to be enrolled in college during and following the recession.