Despite years of economic growth and a declining unemployment rate, the economy \u2013 from the perspective of many Americans \u2013 is far from healthy. For decades, wages for everyone but the top quintile of earners have remained stagnant or declined, while Americans\u2019 participation in the workforce is at its lowest level in nearly forty years. At Pacific Community Ventures, we believe that community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and the broader impact investing industry are ideally positioned to tackle this issue by supporting businesses that create high-quality jobs offering decent wages, benefits, career and wealth-building opportunities, and fair and engaging workplaces. Yet America\u2019s jobs problem is too large and complex for individual businesses and investors to confront on their own. Without a concerted effort by government to improve job quality in partnership with businesses, investors, and the social sector, we cannot credibly expect to see changes in the economic trends that have left most American workers behind for decades.<\/p>\n
To this end, we are excited to release our second report on job quality, called Public Policy and Investments in Quality Jobs, <\/em>which explores the potential for smart, targeted public policies to encourage private sector investments in quality job creation. We identified five existing federal programs that could be modified to direct more capital to businesses offering high-quality employment opportunities, particularly for people facing barriers to employment:<\/p>\n