Grantmaking and Partnerships

Led by a cross-sector Leadership Board that is ideologically diverse and representative of often-siloed groups, WorkRise invests in research on policies, programs, and practices that have the potential to accelerate economic security and mobility for low-wage workers. We fund analyses and the creation of data that shed light on labor market barriers, trends, and opportunities. And we engage in strategic partnerships that help advance evidence-based solutions in support of our mission. Learn more about our most recent request for proposals and how you can collaborate with WorkRise.

The Latest

In Depth

Illustration of people of different ethnicities

Worker voice, representation, and power

Last updated on October 24, 2024

Segregation in the Low-Wage Workforce

Over the past 50 years, the composition of the low-wage workforce has changed: more than half of low-wage workers are now people of color, up from just 20 percent in 1971. Today, Black, Latino, and women workers are more likely to be segregated into worse-quality and lower-paying jobs.
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Employer practices

Last updated on October 08, 2024

Young Workers Need Support When They Can't Find Their Footing in the US Workforce

During recessions, young workers are less likely to find work and face lower wage growth than more experienced workers. Unemployment Insurance could be reformed to support these young workers as they navigate the labor market amid economic downturns at foundational times in their careers, alongside other policy tools that can be effective in these instances.
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Skills and training

Last updated on June 04, 2024

WorkRise Shorts: Applying AI to Rebuild Middle Class Jobs with David Autor

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Autor asks what artificial intelligence could enable people to do and who could be enabled by this tool.
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Working Knowledge

The Latest

In Depth

Illustration of people of different ethnicities
Worker voice, representation, and power Feature Last updated on October 24, 2024

Segregation in the Low-Wage Workforce

Over the past 50 years, the composition of the low-wage workforce has changed: more than half of low-wage workers are now people of color, up from just 20 percent in 1971. Today, Black, Latino, and women workers are more likely to be segregated into worse-quality and lower-paying jobs.

WorkRise Research

Last updated on October 24, 2024

In Depth

Economic context Last updated on October 24, 2024

Low-Wage Work in America

For millions of people in America’s workforce, economic stability and upward mobility remain frustratingly out of reach. Low-wage workers all across the nation are living 

Last updated on October 24, 2024
Employer practices Last updated on October 08, 2024
Research Summary

Young Workers Need Support When They Can't Find Their Footing in the US Workforce

During recessions, young workers are less likely to find work and face lower wage growth than more experienced workers. Unemployment Insurance could be reformed to support these young workers as they navigate the labor market amid economic downturns at foundational times in their careers, alongside other policy tools that can be effective in these instances.

Madeleine Sirois

Last updated on October 08, 2024
Job search and matching Last updated on September 24, 2024
Research Summary

The Prison Credential Dilemma: Insights into Applying for Jobs with Qualifications Earned during Incarceration

Credentials typically help job seekers demonstrate their abilities to obtain better-paying jobs. One study, however, suggests that credentials earned in prison present job seekers with a dilemma: reveal their incarceration and showcase their qualifications or obscure both. Interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals in the United States reveal strategies and tactics deployed to improve labor market outcomes and implications.

Annabel Stattelman Scanlan

Last updated on September 24, 2024

Research

Employer practices Report Last updated on October 25, 2024

The Minneapolis Small Business High-Road Labor Standards Intervention Pilot Project

The Minneapolis Small Business High-Road Labor Standards Intervention Pilot Project seeks to provide services that support immigrant, black, indigenous, and people of color owned small businesses so that they can create healthy, just, and equitable jobs through meeting and or exceeding minimum city labor standards.

Grantee Research

Last updated on October 25, 2024
Employer practices Brief Last updated on September 19, 2024

Extreme Heat at Work

This research brief offers the first nationally representative estimates of how outdoor and indoor workers are affected by extreme heat, highlighting that low-wage workers, defined as adults earning less than $15 an hour, face greater risks than higher-wage earners.

Lisa Clemans-Cope, Dulce Gonzalez, Sara McTarnaghan, Michael Karpman

WorkRise Research

Last updated on September 19, 2024
Skills and training Report Last updated on August 27, 2024

Supporting Youth Economic Mobility through Employment-Focused Strategies

WorkRise’s new landscape research report on youth economic mobility reviews the evidence of programs and practices that help young workers succeed and advance in the labor market.

Shayne Spaulding, Madeleine Sirois, Amanda Briggs

WorkRise Research

Last updated on August 27, 2024
Workers talking in factory
Economic context Last updated on July 09, 2024

Expanding Worker Opportunities Through Evidence: WorkRise Impact Report 2023

By bridging knowledge gaps and forging multi-stakeholder partnerships among employers, worker advocates, policymakers, and practitioners, WorkRise is meaningfully improving economic mobility for lower-wage workers. Our 2023 Impact Report shares more about how we lead with rigorous yet actionable research and get it into the hands of the change makers best positioned to act on it.
Last updated on July 09, 2024