Only 28% of U.S. Job Postings Pay Enough to Raise One Child on a Single Income
Every working parent knows "the math.” You take a salary, subtract housing, subtract childcare, and pray there is enough left over to actually live on.
But over the last few years, the math has fundamentally broken. As the cost of the most basic necessities—housing and childcare—skyrockets, wages simply haven't kept pace. The result is that raising a family in the U.S. has become prohibitively expensive. And for women, who overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the financial and career compromises, the challenge is even steeper.
Resilience and Momentum: Where Black Workers Are Gaining Ground in the U.S. Labor Market
The U.S. labor market has been through a great deal of turbulence in the past six years, and Black workers have felt that turbulence acutely. Unemployment gaps widened, wage gains were uneven, and economic uncertainty cast a shadow over household finances. And yet, something important is also happening beneath those headline numbers: Black workers are not just weathering the storm, they are steering the ship.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS) and ZipRecruiter's survey data paint a portrait of a Black workforce that is engaged, proactive, and forward-looking. That doesn't mean the structural challenges are gone, but it does mean that Black workers are increasingly writing their own stories of success.
ZipRecruiter Employer Survey 2025
The labor market has entered "The Great Freeze"–a period of unprecedented stagnation where turnover has plummeted and both employers and workers prioritize stability over movement. With strong hiring intentions, AI-driven transformation reshaping skill demands, and potential Fed rate cuts on the horizon, our research suggests that the thaw is coming.