Empower Mississippi Report Highlights Growth in Labor Force Participation Rate, Outlines Recommendations for Improvement

RIDGELAND, MS, UNITED STATES, January 16, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nonprofit organization Empower Mississippi today released its second report on state labor force trends. In this publication, entitled “Moving the Needle: Select Recommendations for Improving Mississippi’s Labor Force Participation Rate,” Empower highlights solid growth in the labor force participation rate and includes select recommendations for continued improvement. Those recommendations include:

- Eliminating the state’s tax on work
- Encouraging early work experience for youth
- Teaching the “Success Sequence”
- Encouraging remote work opportunities
- Implementing a local data collection pilot project
- Eliminating unnecessary degree requirements (skills-based hiring)
- Providing transparency in the value of a college degree
- Reducing unnecessary and burdensome regulations
- Closing the high school equivalency (HSE) testing gaps
- Implementing justice reforms like expanding the state’s work release program, expanding the Fresh Start Act, and expungement of non-violent felony convictions

Empower focuses on three policy areas: education, justice, and work. The ongoing labor force participation rate study aligns with each of those pillars.

“We set out to study why people work – or don’t – for several reasons, the most important of which is our belief that work is fundamentally good, fulfilling, and essential to the human experience,” said Grant Callen, Empower Mississippi Chief Executive Officer. “While tracking the labor force participation rate is helpful, we know meaningful recommendations must do more than shift numbers on a spreadsheet. With that in mind, we designed a policy framework with high-impact solutions like removing barriers to work, creating new opportunities for growth, and promoting a culture of work among our youth. While our research is ongoing and I expect more recommendations in the future, we believe implementation of these policies will result in real change for Mississippians.”

Empower recognizes the need to continue studying other topics impacting labor force participation, including disability, caregiving, cost of living, public pensions, and veterans. Empower invites members of the public to provide questions, feedback, or other information by emailing research@empowerms.org.

About Empower Mississippi

Founded in 2014, Empower Mississippi is a solutions center, working with stakeholders to tackle Mississippi’s biggest challenges. We believe every Mississippian can rise, so our work focuses on removing barriers to opportunity so that people in the Magnolia State can earn success, contribute to their families and communities, and live meaningful lives.

Kienna Horn
Empower Mississippi
+1 601-749-1169
kienna@empowerms.org