Resource Roundup
A Look at the Year Ahead
Maxwell Johnson
Senior Research Associate
With the new year comes tremendous uncertainty about what the future holds for workers. The stock market has waltzed to record highs, but for workers, the music has largely stopped, and some have been left without a seat. Job growth has slowed to lows not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unemployment rate ticked up over the past year.
No matter what direction the economy takes in 2026, we at the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program will continue to put workers and the quality of their jobs first. This edition of Resource Roundup explores some of the themes that we’ll be keeping an eye on this year.
The portion of the economic pie going to labor is the smallest in nearly a century, Fortune reported this month. In an essay for American Compass, the Lafayette Square Institute’s Jack Moriarty explains how sharing ownership with workers can better include them in America’s prosperity and strengthen the nation’s economy.
The shaky labor market has been most strongly felt by Black women, whose unemployment rate has jumped sharply since the end of the pandemic. Learn about the conditions that Black women in the workforce face in new reporting from The 19th, a newsroom covering public policy and gender.
Job quality practitioners in the South face unique challenges when working to improve workers’ lives. Job Quality Fellow Maya Ragsdale recently co-authored research on the difficulties that Floridians with criminal records face when reentering the workforce, where they tend to become trapped in poor-quality temp jobs. Read coverage of the research in The Guardian and the report from Beyond the Bars.
American Compass
Don’t Rage Against the Machines – Own Them
For workers, the introduction of new workplace technologies has often been a threat to job security rather than a complement to human labor. The boost to productivity that machines have delivered has benefitted the owners of capital, while the share of income going into workers’ pockets has declined.
Extending ownership stakes to workers offers a different path, argues Jack Moriarty, executive director of the Lafayette Square Institute and a leader in the movement to expand employee ownership. Beyond closing the wealth gap, employee ownership can keep businesses rooted in their communities, make them more innovative, and improve their resilience.
Read Jack’s full essay for American Compass.
Fortune
U.S workers just took home their smallest share of capital since 1947, at least
Talk of a K-shaped economy has accompanied the AI-fuelled stock market boom. Corporate earnings have ballooned, along with the value of investors’ shares, while those who rely on a wage to get by are feeling the pinch.
Many workers lack the bargaining power to ask for more. Despite banner GDP growth last year, hiring slowed considerably and unemployment increased, weakening workers’ leverage. Rapid advancements in automation have further raised the specter of massive job displacement.
Read reporting in Fortune on American workers’ increasingly precarious footing and what companies and policymakers should focus on to make sure workers aren’t left behind.
The 19th
Black women’s unemployment has skyrocketed. Here’s what happened.
When the labor market wobbles, workers with the most tenuous foothold are the first to slip. In the US, Black women are among these workers. Their unemployment rate has nearly doubled over the past three years, with most of the increase coming after President Trump’s return to office.
The causes vary.
Many Black women had found a place in federal public service but lost their jobs as a result of mass layoffs. Their rate of employment also dropped by nearly 13% in manufacturing. And the decline of remote work arrangements may be particularly hard for Black women, forcing them to choose between caring for their children and keeping their jobs, since they are more likely than other workers to be single parents.
Learn about the economic pressures that Black women are facing, and what that might mean for the broader workforce, in The 19th.
The Guardian
Florida workers with criminal records trapped by temp agencies, report finds
Temp workers work the same jobs for fewer benefits and less pay than permanent employees. Their precarious status makes them more vulnerable to exploitation by employers. And employers have used temporary labor to weaken the bargaining power of permanent employees.
Thousands of Floridians with criminal records end up at temp agencies, research from Beyond the Bars, an organization that advocates for workers with criminal records, has found. The agencies offer few prospects for advancement, and their poor pay and benefits put economic stability out of reach.
Florida’s punitive restrictions on those with convictions — more than a third of Floridians have a criminal record — force people into such fragile work arrangements. It’s an approach that runs counter to rehabilitation and makes reintegration unnecessarily difficult.
Read The Guardian’s coverage of research by Beyond the Bars founder Maya Ragsdale and her colleague, Katherine Passley, on the challenges that people with records face when reentering the labor force and what should be done to build a better system.
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About Resource Roundup
The Economic Opportunities Program’s Resource Roundup newsletter is an editorial take on the latest articles and reports that shape our thinking on economic opportunity. Click here to subscribe.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
