November 20, 2023
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Remote Work Allows More Women with Children Remain Employed

As we wrote about in a previous blog post, researchers are starting to piece together more data about the effects of the pandemic on work life. While some of the effects of remote work have been uneven or detrimental, one “silver lining” according to a new study from the Brookings Institute is the employment gains women with children have experienced since the economy began its recovery from the lockdowns.

 

As the New York Times reports, the overall share of women working for pay is at a historic high, and women with children under 5 years of age are seeing the biggest employment gains. Researchers believe that a major reason for these gains is remote work. 

 

Historically, and for obvious reasons, that demographic has had lower rates of employment, but their participation in the workforce has grown steadily. According to the Brookings researchers, they were making steady gains before the pandemic, but since remote work was adopted at such a high rate, more women, especially married women with college degrees, were able to remain in the workforce or enter it.

 

Remote work has made it easier for new mothers to juggle childcare and work, for example, as the Times article points out, mothers who would have found it burdensome to commute long distances to the office often carrying breast milk pumping supplies. Now, many women can find remote work where these kinds of burdens are lessened. It also gives women, and men, more flexibility to schedule their work around their childcare duties, a significant change according to the researchers.


However, some of these gains are under threat as federal pandemic funding dries up, warns the Brookings Institute. Berke-Weiss Law is keeping track of these trends and how they can affect workers and their rights.

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Cryptocurrency as Wages? NYC Mayor Eric Adams Buys In, But It’s Not That Simple.

February 28, 2022
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When New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, announced he was taking his first three paychecks in the form of Bitcoin, it might have been a publicity stunt, and one that backfired as Bitcoin prices took a nosedive, but it has highlighted a new means of employee compensation that is potentially on the horizon.

Bill to Ban Forced Arbitration in Sexual Misconduct Cases Passes the Senate

February 14, 2022
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Arbitration clauses are often buried deep in employment contracts, and many employees don’t know what they’re agreeing too or don’t fully understand what arbitration means. These clauses force employees with claims against their employer to bring them to arbitration—a private process which is often fully funded by the employer itself.

Workers Still Lack Security Despite Tight Labor Markets

February 9, 2022
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The labor market is exceptionally tight, a scenario which has converged over the last six months with what economists are calling the Great Resignation, with a record number of workers quitting in November. In the popular media, the narrative emerging from this phenomenon is one in which workers are in possession of more power than they have been for quite a while, which has resulted in an increase in wages, especially for the working class. The power, however, ultimately remains in the hands of bosses, and many workers’ experiences do not neatly coincide with the narrative.

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