HeidiShierholz

The best moment ever was when i heard nobel prize winning economist George Akerlof referred to as "Janet Yellen's husband".

There are some who say that paid leave would be an unmanageable burden for businesses. But that hasn't been the experience for US companies that provide paid leave and it hasn't been the case for those companies overseas that have more generous paid leave policies. "A survey of 253 employers affected by California's paid family leave initiative found that the vast majority -- over ninety percent -- reported either positive or no noticeable effect on profitability, turnover, and morale." Learn more here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/leave_report_final.pdf

On average, college still makes good financial sense -- increased income after college make up for the costs of college. But college isn't the answer for everyone, and going forward there will be lots of opportunities for workers with more than a high school diploma but no college degree. That's why the department is expanding capacity at community colleges, growing apprenticeship programs, and providing multiple paths for people to learn while they earn and advance their careers.

Historically increases in the minimum wage have caused little to no significant job loss (meaning employers haven't turned to robots to replace low wage workers when the minimum wage has been increased in the past), and very small increases in prices. The bottom line is that the purchasing power of the national minimum wage is more than 20% below where it was 40 years ago and it's time to give these workers a raise.

The good news is that the labor force participation rate has been stable for the last year. But the decline from 2008-2013 was due to both structural factors (e.g., baby boomers hitting retirement age, increasing college enrollment of young people) and cyclical factors (people dropping out of the labor force, or never entering, because of weakened job opportunities during and in the aftermath of the Great Recession).