In July 2017, the Aspen Institute convened its second annual Economic Security Summit, “Reconnecting Work and Wealth: Constructing a New American Middle Class.” Where a cross-section of leaders from industry, academia, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit organizations grappled with how to restore widespread economic prosperity to families and communities all across America. This report captures the ideas that emerged as participants debated factors contributing to the growing economic divide, what inequality means for our democracy, and potential opportunities to strengthen family economic security and upward mobility in the 21st century.

This brief describes a strategy that helps connect young adults to “now jobs” that address their immediate income needs while continuing to prepare them for long-term career opportunities.

This guidebook offers an equity-based approach to research to strengthen the quality and authenticity of information used to drive decision-making. The guide addresses existing power dynamics and unintended biases in the creation of research and focuses on community members as authors and owners of information. In addition to describing seven inequities and opportunities for change in the research process, this resource provides guidance for community organizations, researchers, and funders. This resource may be particularly useful to individuals and organizations interested in centering input from community organizations, community members, and/or workers to inform job quality strategies.

This case study of a company in Milwaukee is part of an Equity in Apprenticeship series highlighting programs that use apprenticeship to extend career opportunities to historically marginalized groups. Employers and practitioners can glean lessons related to achieving equitable outcomes through apprenticeship programs.

This guide is designed to provide an overview of work-based learning models and guidance on implementation. Work-based learning can be valuable for career advancement if combined with supportive practices and clear directives on how skill development is related to the company’s advancement practices. This can be a helpful resource for employers as well as practitioners and educators to discuss work-based learning with a business audience.

This toolkit by the Department of Labor provides steps and resources to start and register an apprenticeship program. When delivered appropriately and connected to advancement opportunities, apprenticeships can strengthen job quality by increasing worker stability and mobility. This toolkit could be particularly useful for a business or labor organization, a workforce intermediary, a community-based organization, or an education institution developing an apprenticeship program.

This report details findings from a landscape scan that identified emerging trends and field-building opportunities for sector partnerships that are working to embed equity and reduce disparities. This can be a useful resource for workforce practitioners seeking to frame their work around equitable outcomes.

This report details the findings of a stable scheduling study conducted at Gap stores by an interdisciplinary team of academics. During the pilot study, stores in San Francisco and Chicago implemented stable scheduling practices, including two-week advance notice, elimination of on-call scheduling, tech-enabled shift swapping, and targeted additional staffing. Findings included a 7% increase in median sales and 5% increase in labor productivity at treatment stores. This study’s findings help to demonstrate the potential business benefits of stable scheduling.

This publication details seven key components of a modernized tuition assistance program, including flexibility, inclusiveness, affordability, and support. This information can be useful to employers seeking to develop or enhance a tuition assistance program and to practitioners who work with businesses to improve worker mobility.

This step-by-step guide by Upskill America, an initiative of the Economic Opportunities Program, and the Institute for Corporate Productivity details the steps to change an organization’s tuition assistance program to a tuition disbursement program, providing financial support for education up-front rather than offering reimbursement after a worker has completed a program. This simple change to the structure of a tuition assistance program has important job quality and equity implications; it can make education and upskilling accessible to workers who are eager to learn but lack access to resources to pay for school. This tool is useful for employers and all practitioners who work with them to strengthen job quality.