Study: 2 in 5 Workers Need Some Kind of Government Approval

Licensing abound

This morning we wrote about Isis Brantley, a Texas hairbraider who is suing the state over what she sees as excessive licensing regulations. Her case is focused on what she and her lawyers say is a violation of her constitutional rights, but it also touches on a decades-long policy trend: the explosive growth in occupations that require government approval.

Nearly two in five workers—38 percent—said they needed or eventually would need a government license or certification to do their jobs, according to an April study of 2008 survey data. But it hasn't always been that way. The data reflect "striking trends" in occupational licensing, according to the authors Morris Kleiner, a University of Minnesota professor, and Alan Krueger, a Princeton University professor and the former head of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

h/t Charles WT