Thread by @SeanCasten

Good news from today's report is the unemployment rate is down to 4.8%. Bad news is workforce participation is still stuck at 61.6%, and still substantially limited by access to childcare. We fix this with the Build Back Better Act, childcare tax credits and 2 yrs of free pre-K

https://twitter.com/SeanCasten/status/1441382000833667080

Three charts to see this. First, total employment. Workforce participation rate highlighted. bls.gov/news.release/e…

Second, same data but only for men of child-producing age. 70% workforce participation and rising. Pretty good!

And third, same data but for women of child-bearing age. 57.1% participation and falling. Access to child care is the story.

This is also a good example of why unemployment rate is a misleading statistic. For men, the unemployment rate is 4.7%, for women 4.2%. Sounds like women are doing better. But the denominator in both is people working or looking for work. And a lot of women aren't looking.

Child care in the US pays terribly, and we provide almost no federal support. See here: nytimes.com/2021/10/06/ups…

So when COVID hit, lots of care providers decided that it wasn't worth the low pay to manage a lot of kids with runny noses in the wake of a pandemic. Many have since found other jobs. If we pay them what they deserve, lots won't be able to afford childcare. So we're stuck.

That in turn leaves lots of (let's be honest here) moms bearing greater responsibility for childcare and leaving the workforce. Thus those falling participation stats. Which slows our economic recovery.

That's why the Build Back Better plan (as passed in the House. Don't do something stupid, Senate!) includes money for 2 years of free pre-K and expanded child tax credits. So parents can afford to pay more, and to de-link quality of care from individual ability to pay.

In the meantime, you can do your part to help get our economy going by getting vaccinated and wearing masks to keep teachers, caretakers and kids safe. Onward. /fin

Postscript: there is also another cohort, as I noted last week of boomers who retired. That's much harder to bring back for purely demographic reasons. Which is all the more reason to get childcare right.

https://twitter.com/SeanCasten/status/1441382436940627974?s=20

Postscript #2: Remember all that talk that unemployment benefits were keeping people from looking for work? Total BS.

https://twitter.com/PplPolicyProj/status/1446458604240900151?s=20