Understanding Structural Barriers to Work for Vulnerable Groups during a Strong Labor Market

Background and Purpose: Economic recovery after the COVID-19 recession resulted in one of the strongest labor markets in recent history. With high number of job openings and increasing real wages, the main narrative has been about labor shortage. However, research looking at labor markets in the last few decades suggests that vulnerable groups experience the economy differently.

In this context of disparate experiences, this paper contributes to our understanding of who is facing barriers to fully participating in the labor force. Additionally, much of research on this area is quantitative and uses national level datasets. This qualitative approach provides a context rich narrative about challenges faced by vulnerable workers during a strong labor market.

Methods:

Sixteen focus groups were conducted between May-July of 2023 to better understand the challenges and opportunities for vulnerable workers. In total 168 community stakeholders deeply knowledgeable about local labor markets—including employers, nonprofit leaders, workforce development boards—were engaged to share their perspectives. Focus group participants responded to questions around who is not working, what barriers they face, and the promising practices implemented to address these challenges. The focus groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using principles of grounded theory, two researchers developed a codebook using four randomly sampled transcripts. The codebook was shared with other members of the research team who conducted the focus groups for review and feedback. Once the codebook was finalized, the research team applied the codebook to analyze all sixteen transcripts. Using an iterative approach, the research team members discussed the emerging themes to ensure the codebook was being applied reliably across coders.

Findings:

Several groups were highlighted as facing hurdles including young adults, parents of young children, those who are justice involved, people with disabilities, and immigrants and refugees. Among others, access to housing, transportation, and childcare were highlighted as the top barriers. Participants noted that although jobs were available, people were having to move farther away to find affordable housing. This meant that people needed access to reliable transportation to ensure they were able to get to work. Additionally, they had to navigate increasingly fewer options for childcare available in their communities. Participants also shared some promising strategies such as focused funding to remove barriers to work and partnering with employers to create apprenticeship programs for young adults. Finally, the participants indicated that organizations often work in siloes and more opportunities to collaborate was needed.

Conclusion and Implications:

Although a tight labor market has benefited many workers, focus group participants indicated that vulnerable groups still face structural barriers. This is consistent with research on workers who are more sensitive to macroeconomic business cycles. These findings imply that further investments in vulnerable workers are needed to increase labor force participation. Since one of the findings was that organizations were working in siloes, we have been convening local leaders working on workforce development to learn from each other and cultivate collaborative solution making.