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Mark Trumbull
The word 鈥渟hortage鈥� is showing up these days in, well, no shortage of places, from berths to unload ships in Los Angeles to energy supplies in Europe. This, in turn, feeds both consumer anxiety and price inflation.听
Many factors need to be addressed 鈥� such as fixing bottlenecks in shipping and bringing production in line with reviving demand in the economy. But one of the most basic issues is that the dearth of 鈥渟tuff鈥� stems partly from a shortage of workers: truckers, factory operators, restaurant servers, retail staff.听
As economic demand has revived, the supply of workers has 鈥� to the surprise of some 鈥� been slow to catch up. Concern about聽health risks of public-facing work during a pandemic clearly seems to have weighed on workers, in addition to other challenges.
But here鈥檚 another factor to consider: The pandemic also strained family life. Moms, especially, are amid struggles to tend to both kids and jobs. Many are now on the labor sidelines. Among moms who aren鈥檛 currently working for pay, 鈥渕ore than a quarter said they would prefer to be working at least part time,鈥� one new聽聽finds.听
So policies that help working parents might be part of the answer for ending the shortage of workers.
Universal access to pre-K education and paid leave, for instance, are things that Princeton University economist Alan Blinder calls an honest-to-goodness form of 鈥溾�� 鈥� policies that can boost the economy by expanding its productive capacity.听
It鈥檚 not a one-step panacea. And to approach this policy puzzle. Democrats are wrangling聽over a budget bill that might boost funding for聽child care, pre-K, and continuing per-child tax credits of $300 per month. Republicans are warier聽of big spending, but a few have their own ideas for direct aid to parents聽to use as they see fit. Stay tuned: This is a priority that may well outlast the pandemic.
