Insuring American Workers in the Era of Offshoring

Here's an interesting Brooking's brief on what the Federal Government can do to strengthen the existing safety net for American workers in the face of technological change and accelerating job turnover:

We propose a new wage insurance program to provide incentives for more rapid reemployment and on-the-job-training—a program that insures earnings for permanently displaced workers who secure reemployment at lower pay. It would cost roughly $3.5 billion a year to provide permanently displaced full-time workers who secure reemployment with insurance on 50 percent of their earnings loss up to a cap of $10,000 a year for two years. An insurance policy costing $25 per worker per year is a small price to help displaced American workers get back to work more quickly, seek opportunities in new sectors, and gain more valuable reskilling through on-the-job training.