Giving Compass' Take:

• The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program plans to engage with leaders across industries to improve job quality and help employees gain access to more economic opportunities. 

• How can donors help support initiatives in job quality and economic impact? 

• Read about other strategies that aim to improve the quality of work. 

Work is at the core of the American Dream—if you work hard, you can build a better life for yourself and for your children. But for too many in the US, this Dream is receding. Lack of access to quality jobs is a key contributor to this decline in economic mobility. Decades of stagnant real wages, eroding benefits, and declining employment security mean that too many jobs do not provide a pathway to an economically stable life.

This burden disproportionately falls on workers of color, women, and younger workers, and is unevenly experienced across geographies.

This situation is not expected to improve. In recent work we note that two-thirds of job growth projected to 2026 is in occupations that typically pay less than a family-sustaining wage.

Moreover, a recent Gallup poll found that respondents’ job quality had a strong influence on their quality of life and over half of respondents reported not having a quality job. To change this trajectory, we need a range of actors working together to improve the quality of jobs. For practitioners focused on connecting people to work, the quality of that work matters.

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, with support from Prudential Financial, is launching a new effort to encourage the development of job quality practices that promote access to economic opportunity. In the coming months, we will provide actionable tools and guidance to support leaders across geographies and fields – including workforce development, economic development, capital deployment, policy, worker advocacy, business, and higher education – to engage in practical action to improve jobs in their local communities and connect to a growing national conversation.

Read the full article about advancing job quality at The Aspen Institute.