Biden Infrastructure Plan Could Be Big Boost for Blue-Collar America
President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure plan would create millions of jobs, undoing some of the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, economists said, with lower middle-income workers and…
President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure plan would create millions of jobs, undoing some of the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, economists said, with lower middle-income workers and minorities possibly benefiting the most.
Biden will unveil the first stage of his $2 trillion plan on Wednesday at an event in Pittsburgh. It will include hundreds of billions of dollars devoted to building and repairing roads, bridges, mass transit, schools and other infrastructure, according to details released by the White House earlier on Wednesday.
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.
“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,” Nicole Smith, research professor and chief economist at Georgetown’s CEW, told Reuters.
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.
His infrastructure plan also takes square aim at racial inequalities. “Unlike past major investments, the plan prioritizes addressing long-standing and persistent racial injustice,” according to a fact sheet with details of the plan shared by the White House.