Investment in Human Capital Is Infrastructure—Here’s Why.
President Biden describes his American Jobs Plan as a once-in-a generation opportunity to reimagine our economy and reshape our workforce. But for this extraordinarily ambitious effort to succeed, we must ensure that all citizens benefit from what it offers. In addition to investment in infrastructure, there must also be investment in human capital.
The American Jobs Plan should be the vehicle to connect jobs to people who for generations have been systematically excluded from the mainstream economy and denied opportunity. It will take intentional, complementary efforts to reach the most marginalized among us.
People experiencing homelessness, returning from incarceration, and struggling with addiction live with this divestment every day — from failing schools to substandard housing, unequal access to healthcare, and the inability to obtain living wage jobs. Street homelessness, mass incarceration and drug abuse are visible symptoms of these systemic failures.
This lack of investment hurts our entire country. The un- and under-employment of people who have experienced incarceration leads to a loss of 1.7–1.9 million workers and between $78-$87 billion in GDP per year. Of the more than 550,000 people experiencing homelessness in America, an estimated 78% are jobless or underemployed. The unemployment rate for the formerly incarcerated is over 27%. That is worrisome because employment is the single most important factor in decreasing recidivism; rates are nearly halved for formerly incarcerated people who have full-time jobs versus those who are unemployed.
We have a unique opportunity to address interrelated crises with a solution that rings true to the spirit of our nation: work. Historically, initiatives to train and employ people have not been linked to efforts to address homelessness, recidivism and addiction because of a mistaken belief that these populations cannot or will not work. To think as big and be as bold as President Biden suggests, this can no longer be the case.
The American Jobs Plan proposes billions for workforce development, which demonstrates a recognition of the need to prepare people for more technical and career-oriented jobs. This investment must also include basic support services for those needing stable housing, behavioral healthcare, sobriety support, and access to basic education. Specifically, programs that bridge the gap from homelessness and incarceration to employment need to be part of the solution, alongside trade schools and traditional workforce development institutions.
We can pave the way to an inclusive recovery by investing in career training/retraining for vulnerable populations based on local demands, including in emerging sectors (such as green jobs) and skilled trades facing hiring shortages, as well as by prioritizing access to union apprenticeships for underserved communities.
By the last business day of January 2021, there were nearly 7 million job openings in the United States despite the nearly year-long toll of the pandemic. Yet millions of employment-seeking Americans lacked the skills to fill them. Skills-based training and retraining that reaches people experiencing homelessness and with histories of incarceration will ensure that the benefits of Biden’s recovery plan are felt far beyond our highways and bridges.
Isabel McDevitt is the Executive Vice President of The Doe Fund.
