Jobs in home care are expected to grow by 40 percent in the next decade to meet demand from older adults and people with disabilities. Despite being part of one of the fastest growing industries, many home care workers did not have federal minimum wage and overtime protections until 2015. The Department of Labor extended these protections through a regulation known as the Home Care Rule. We compar...

The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights enforces fair employment and occupational safety and health rules in the legislative branch. Congress passed a 2018 law that, among other things, required the office to create a secure online system for discrimination and harassment claims. We found weaknesses in the office’s project planning, system oversight, and cybersecurity risk management. For...

The National Weather Service is responsible for issuing weather forecasts and warnings to help protect life and property during severe weather events. However, it has faced a number of challenges over the past decade that may hamper its ability to deliver these services. In response, NWS followed a competitive process to hire a contractor (McKinsey & Company) to analyze its operations and workfor...

Improving economic status through hard work, education, and investment has been the “American Dream” for generations. But is it out of reach for Millennials? We looked into it and found: Over the last 40 years, fewer Americans are making more than their parents did at the same age Predetermined factors like parental income, race, and geography play key roles in determining future earnings M...

Robots, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies are changing the workplace. We visited companies to observe the effects on workers. Effects varied, with some companies reducing their workforces, many moving workers to different roles, and some hiring workers due to increased production or new skill needs. Workforce data doesn't identify the causes of employment shifts, making it...

Many children aged 17 and under work to develop independence or meet financial needs. However, working can sometimes interfere with education, or in some industries, be physically dangerous. We found that the majority of work-related fatalities occur among children working in agriculture—but data on children's work-related injuries in general is incomplete. The Department of Labor is conductin...

According to GAO's analysis of data in the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), on average, low-wage workers worked fewer hours per week, were more highly concentrated in a few industries and occupations, and had lower educational attainment than workers earning hourly wages above $16 in each year GAO reviewed—1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2016. Their percentage of the U.S. workfo...

Congress created the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) immigrant visa category to promote job creation and encourage capital investment in the United States by foreign investors.  EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5 Program) requirements include investing$1 million in a new business that will result in the creation of at least 10 permanent full-time jobs or a reduced amount of $500,000 i...

More than 80 federal programs (including 6 tax expenditures) provide aid to people with low incomes, based on GAO's survey of relevant federal agencies. Medicaid (the largest by far), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the refundable portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) comprised almost two-thirds of fiscal year 2013 federal obli...

Many retirees and workers approaching retirement have limited financial resources. About half of households age 55 and older have no retirement savings (such as in a 401(k) plan or an IRA). According to GAO's analysis of the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, many older households without retirement savings have few other resources, such as a defined benefit (DB) plan or nonretirement savings, to d...