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Investing in Care: A Strategy for Effective and Equitable Job Creation

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Listed:
  • Rania Antonopoulos
  • Kijong Kim
  • Tom Masterson
  • Ajit Zacharias

Abstract

Massive job losses in the United States, over eight million since the onset of the "Great Recession," call for job creation measures through fiscal expansion. In this paper we analyze the job creation potential of social service–delivery sectors-early childhood development and home-based health care-as compared to other proposed alternatives in infrastructure construction and energy. Our microsimulation results suggest that investing in the care sector creates more jobs in total, at double the rate of infrastructure investment. The second finding is that these jobs are more effective in reaching disadvantaged workers-those from poor households and with lower levels of educational attainment. Job creation in these sectors can easily be rolled out. States already have mechanisms and implementation capacity in place. All that is required is policy recalibration to allow funds to be channeled into sectors that deliver jobs both more efficiently and more equitably.

Suggested Citation

  • Rania Antonopoulos & Kijong Kim & Tom Masterson & Ajit Zacharias, 2010. "Investing in Care: A Strategy for Effective and Equitable Job Creation," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_610, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_610
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    1. International Monetary Fund, 2010. "Deconstructing the International Business Cycle: Why does a U.S. sneeze give the rest of the world a cold?," IMF Working Papers 2010/239, International Monetary Fund.
    2. James J. Heckman & Dimitriy V. Masterov, 2007. "The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 29(3), pages 446-493.
    3. Robert Pollin & James Heintz & Heidi Garrett-Peltier, 2009. "The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy: How the Economic Stimulus Program and New Legislation Can Boost U.S. Economic Growth and Employment," Published Studies economic_benefits, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    4. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Peter Diamond, 1994. "Ranking, Unemployment Duration, and Wages," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 417-434.
    5. Ajit Zacharias & Thomas Masterson & Kijong Kim, 2009. "Distributional Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-- A Microsimulation Approach," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_568, Levy Economics Institute.
    6. Timothy J. Bartik, 2004. "Economic Development," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: J. Richard Aronson & Eli Schwartz (ed.),Managememnt Policies in Local Government Finance, pages 355-390, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Özlem Onaran & Cem Oyvat & Eurydice Fotopoulou, 2019. "The effects of gender inequality, wages, wealth concentration and fiscal policy on macroeconomic performance," FMM Working Paper 50-2019, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    2. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & Greg Hannsgen & Gennaro Zezza, 2011. "Is the Recovery Sustainable?," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive sa_dec_11, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & Greg Hannsgen & Michalis Nikiforos, 2013. "Is the Link between Output and Jobs Broken?," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive sa_mar_13, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Rania Antonopoulos, 2013. "Expanding Social Protection in Developing Countries: A Gender Perspective," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_757, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Kim, Kijong & İlkkaracan, İpek & Kaya, Tolga, 2019. "Public investment in care services in Turkey: Promoting employment & gender inclusive growth," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1210-1229.
    6. Rania Antonopoulos, 2013. "From Safety Nets to Economic Empowerment: Is There Space to Promote Gender Equality in the Evolution of Social Protection?," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_128, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Jerome De Henau & Susan Himmelweit, 2020. "Developing a Macro-Micro Model for Analyzing Gender Impacts of Public Policy," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_966, Levy Economics Institute.
    8. Onaran, Özlem & Oyvat, Cem, 2023. "The effects of public spending in the green and the care economy: the case of South Korea," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 38766, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    9. Pedro Romero Marques & Luiza Nassif Pires & Tainari Taioka & Jose Bergamin & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2024. "Amazon Green Recovery and Labor Market in Brazil: Can Green Spending Reduce Gender and Race Inequalities?," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2024_09, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    10. Maria Laura Ojeda & María Priscila Ramos & Carlos Adrián Romero, 2022. "Economía del Cuidado en Argentina: Evaluación de políticas bajo un enfoque de Insumo Producto," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4579, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    11. Kijong Kim & Rania Antonopoulos, 2011. "Unpaid and Paid Care: The Effects of Child Care and Elder Care on the Standard of Living," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_691, Levy Economics Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Care; Job Creation; Fiscal Expansion; Distribution; Infrastructure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

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