Frank Stricker
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780252043154
- eISBN:
- 9780252052033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043154.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
Jobs recovered slowly under George W. Bush after the 2001 recession. Growth was boosted by easy credit and a housing boom, but the seeds of the Great Recession were being sown as working-class ...
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Jobs recovered slowly under George W. Bush after the 2001 recession. Growth was boosted by easy credit and a housing boom, but the seeds of the Great Recession were being sown as working-class incomes stayed down. The system crashed in 2008 and unemployment soared. Barack Obama organized deficit spending and job creation, while the Federal Reserve injected trillions of dollars into the economy. Republican resistance and Democratic timidity meant that the federal stimulus was too little by half. The top 10 percent of households recovered faster than the bottom 50 percent. This chapter includes stories of individuals struggling with the loss of jobs and housing. It describes long-term changes that intensify employee insecurity. More jobs are non-union and more employees receive no benefits, face arbitrary schedules, and are classified as independent contractors.Less
Jobs recovered slowly under George W. Bush after the 2001 recession. Growth was boosted by easy credit and a housing boom, but the seeds of the Great Recession were being sown as working-class incomes stayed down. The system crashed in 2008 and unemployment soared. Barack Obama organized deficit spending and job creation, while the Federal Reserve injected trillions of dollars into the economy. Republican resistance and Democratic timidity meant that the federal stimulus was too little by half. The top 10 percent of households recovered faster than the bottom 50 percent. This chapter includes stories of individuals struggling with the loss of jobs and housing. It describes long-term changes that intensify employee insecurity. More jobs are non-union and more employees receive no benefits, face arbitrary schedules, and are classified as independent contractors.
