The implications of prolonged high unemployment—should it materialize—haven't been fully explored. People who don't have jobs don't acquire skills. Young college graduates are already having trouble getting work. High unemployment could depress wage gains for years. It could foster protectionism and long-term poverty. "In a tight economy like the late 1990s, firms are more willing to take chances on more disadvantaged workers," says Harvard economist Larry Katz. EPI's Lawrence Mishel thinks the effects on low-income families would be devastating; the child poverty rate could jump from 18 percent in 2007 to 27 percent.
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