During the peak of the Great Depression, 25% of the American workforce lost their jobs, a staggering figure that would go unrivaled for a century. In May 2020, the country came close: up to 16% of Americans were out of work, beating a high of 10.6% during the Great Recession.
In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration’s response was to create millions of new jobs through the Works Progress Administration, which included unusual branches like the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers’ Project. Nearly a century later, the city of Long Beach is approaching unemployment with a provocative solution fit for the 21st century: gig work. And advocates of this government-run gig work platform say it could work anywhere, including Philadelphia.
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