Biden’s Plan to Rebuild Infrastructure Could Create Millions of Jobs
Some think that Biden’s new plan could boost employment. That is, if the projects are more than a mirage, like all the “shovel ready” projects in 2009.
The $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan would create millions of jobs and could undo some of the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, economists said, and could particularly benefit lower-middle-income workers.
About 75% of the infrastructure jobs created would go to workers with no more than a high school diploma, while the rest would require an associate’s degree or higher, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) in Washington said in a report.
The report, issued before the White House released the details of the infrastructure plan, analyzed jobs that would be created by a $1.5 trillion investment.
CEW estimates the investment would create 8 million jobs for workers with a high school diploma or less and 4.8 million jobs for those with more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree.
Nicole Smith, research professor and chief economist at Georgetown’s CEW, said:
“What’s interesting is that this plan really gives them a chance to create opportunity for people who have a high school degree or less.”
Smith said the pandemic had exacerbated a trend that has seen the United States continue to bleed blue-collar jobs over the past 10 years.
Biden, a Democrat, has constantly positioned himself as a pro-labor president and advocated for policies such as raising the minimum wage and those that make it easier for workers to unionize.
