Check out our top three reads of the week connected to community development work. This week, we're reading (and listening) to stories covering unemployment versus underemployment and their impact on housing, homelessness, financial stability and policy.
Have something to add to our list? Let us know on Twitter at @LISC_HQ.
Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not.
By Matthew Desmond, The New York Times Magazine
“But consider Vanessa. Her story is emblematic of a larger problem: the fact that millions of Americans work with little hope of finding security and comfort. In recent decades, America has witnessed the rise of bad jobs offering low pay, no benefits and little certainty. When it comes to poverty, a willingness to work is not the problem, and work itself is no longer the solution.” Continue [+]...
There's one simple explanation for the wage stagnation 'puzzle' confounding top Fed officials
By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa, Business Insider
“Most workers and job seekers are all too familiar with this pattern. In a post-Great Recession world, not only was there wage disinflation there was also requirement inflation — employers were able to get a lot more qualified workers for a lot less money. And those effects have lingered, in addition to worrisome trends like involuntary part-time work, contract and temp jobs, and job creation centered in low-wage industries.” Continue [+]...
Thousands Of Californians Are Working While Homeless, And Many Don't Want Their Boss To Know
By David Wagner, Capital Public Radio
“Six days a week, she finishes her shift with a few appointment reminder calls. Then she turns off the display lights in the eyeglass cases. She sets the alarm, locks the doors and walks out to her car. Some weeks, she hasn't had a place to go home to.” Continue [+]...
Psst...we couldn’t help but share one bonus top read: The New York Times covered LISC’s Bridges to Career Opportunities programs helping low-wage earners make the jump to satisfying, living-wage jobs in careers with room for growth.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles above are those of the authors and publications we are listing, and do not necessarily reflect LISC’s perspective.