Many believe that the era of good jobs is slipping away. Especially now with the economy weakening, the popular perception is that Americans are less and less able to find jobs that will allow them to support their families. Some analysts argue that so few workers can find jobs with health insurance that America now needs nationalized health care.[1] Members of Congress believe that the government needs to make it easier for unions to recruit new members—even by depriving workers of the right to vote on joining a union—to prevent the disappearance of good jobs.[2]
These fears are unfounded. There is a natural human tendency to look at the past with nostalgia, but the economy before the 1980s was not a golden era when every worker had a fulfilling, high-paying job. Many of the jobs of a generation ago paid low wages and offered little job security. The economy is constantly in flux, creating new jobs and destroying old ones. Computer programmers were as rare in the 1970s as typewriter repairmen are today. Some of the jobs that have disappeared were good jobs, but many were not.
The data show that job opportunities have grown the most in occupations with the highest wages while shrinking in most low-wage occupations. Employers need more workers with education and skills, and this increases the opportunities for upward mobility. Today, the typical job involves less mindless repetition or physical exertion and more mental activity than in the past. It is also safer and more comfortable than a generation ago.
Workers' benefits are not disappearing. After accounting for the effects of unskilled immigration, American workers are just as likely to have health insurance today as a decade ago. Pension coverage is stable, but employers are switching toward defined contribution pensions that give workers more control. Access to sick leave has expanded. Workers have greater job security than in the past: They are more likely to move between employers but less likely to be fired than in the 1970s.
The opportunities available to American workers have expanded over the past generation. While Congress is understandably concerned by the current economic weakness, Congress should not pass legislation based on the mistaken belief that working conditions have deteriorated.
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Many Americans have heard of friends or acquaintances who have lost good jobs and could not find a comparable new job. These anecdotal stories reveal an economic reality: Such hardships do occur. Similarly, many workers begin their career in undesirable jobs and move up the career ladder, although these stories attract less media attention. The economy is constantly creating new jobs and destroying old ones as technology and consumer preferences change.
View Chart: US continues transition toward higher-paying, college-degree jobs
Economists call this "creative destruction." Businesses that serve consumers more effectively and more competitively will expand and add jobs, and less efficient firms will go out of business. Employers created 57.8 million new jobs in 2007 while ending 54.6 million positions.[3] This is essential to a healthy economy. It directs employees to work where their skills are most valuable in the economy and ensures that their talents are not wasted at obsolete firms. Thirty years ago, many companies employed workers to repair broken typewriters. Today, those businesses and jobs have disappeared, but tens of thousands of workers repair personal computers that did not exist then. Without this constant churning, the economy would stagnate.
The Changing Nature of Work
Many workers lose good jobs every year, and many workers start good jobs. Determining overall changes i
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