It is long overdue for U.S. employment policy to move beyond the old industrial model of the 1930s that assumed that the interests of employers and employees are inimical, and that the interests of all employees are the same. Employment policy for the next century, among other things, needs to accommodate different work and family situations by emphasizing flexible and individualized work arrangements. As the current economic expansion heads toward becoming the longest ever recorded in the United States, labor markets are providing more and better job opportunities than ever before. Family income levels are at an all-time high, unemployment is at a sustained low level not seen in almost 30 years, labor force participation is at a record high, and there are few signs of inflation. Only the United States, among the major market economies, has been able to create private sector jobs rapidly enough to sustain unemployment below double-digit levels.
Some critics claim that only the rich have gained.
The second part of A Century of Progress - A Century of Change documents that such views are inconsistent with workplace realities. For most American workers and their families, material well-being has never been higher. Creation of new high wage jobs greatly exceeds those paying below the median wage. And, temporary employment, although it has grown rapidly, still constitutes a small fraction of U.S. jobs-less than 2 percent by most estimates. The Employment Policy Foundation's employment quality index, which takes account of job quality, real compensation, job availability, and employee attitudes, stands at an all-time high.