People deserve an education and workforce system that erases the boundaries between learning and work.
No Dead Ends is an agenda for the two-thirds of Gen Z students who are worried about taking on college debt for a postsecondary pathway that doesn’t lead to a quality job. These learners want to build skills in high school and are asking teachers and counselors to provide better advice on their education and career options.
People deserve an education and workforce system that prepares them for quality jobs.
Likewise, No Dead Ends is an agenda for the more than half of adults who believe they need to gain new skills to prepare for the impacts of artificial intelligence and other seismic changes to the economy. Experience tells us that they need access to learning and work experiences that blend in-demand technical know-how with uniquely human skills, but the nation significantly underinvests in career navigation, reskilling, and reemployment assistance programs that make those experiences possible.
People deserve an education and workforce system that values their skills.
No Dead Ends is also an agenda for the one-third of U.S. adults with records of arrests, convictions, or incarceration who face a complex web of rules and regulations that exclude them from pursuing jobs they’re qualified for or can learn to do. The experiences of people like Aminah Elster and JFF’s Shaun Libby show the career advancement that’s possible when policies and systems are redesigned to normalize work and learning opportunities for people with records. But their experiences remain the exception not the rule because existing systems create a lifetime of penalties for people with records.
People deserve an education and workforce system that de-risks learning and work decisions.
Additionally, No Dead Ends is an agenda for the 100,000 Americans who have been forced to stay home from work each month because of child care issues. And lack of access to child care is just one of a range of personal challenges that create barriers to education, training, and employment opportunities for many workers and learners. Others include food insecurity and lack of access to transportation or affordable housing.
People deserve an education and workforce system that sets no limits on their aspirations.
And No Dead Ends is an agenda for disrupting occupational segregation that is pervasive in high-wage, high-demand career fields. The impact of that segregation is evident in the fact that a disproportionately large share of Black workers are employed in low-wage jobs. Black workers comprise 12.8% of the U.S. labor force. Yet they represent 23% to 36% of the nation’s home health care aides, bus drivers, and security guards but only 3.6% to 6.8% of aircraft pilots and flight engineers, chief executives, surgeons, and lawyers. These disparities perpetuate the Black-white wealth gap and are evidence that employers aren’t tapping into the full potential of the U.S. workforce or making the most of contributions from the more than 21 million Black workers in this country.
People deserve an education and workforce system fit for their lifelong journeys through learning and work.
All told, No Dead Ends is a set of policy solutions that will enable the country to achieve the ambitious goal we at JFF have embraced as our North Star: By 2033, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.