Research Centers
IRLE is home to several nationally-recognized centers conducting research, education, and outreach on pressing labor and employment issues.
Labor Center
The UC Berkeley Labor Center conducts research on issues such as jobs in the green economy, retirement security, low-wage employment, and the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on California working families. The Center’s education and leadership trainings are educating a diverse new generation of labor leaders.
California Policy Lab
The California Policy Lab generates research insights for government impact. Through hands-on partnerships with government agencies, CPL performs rigorous research across issue silos and builds the data infrastructure necessary to improve programs and policies that millions of Californians rely on every day. CPL’s work focuses on six policy areas: education, criminal justice reform, poverty and the social safety net, labor and employment, health, and homelessness and high needs populations.
California Public Employee Relations
California Public Employee Relations (CPER) is the leading program on California public sector labor and employment relations. CPER covers recent developments and laws relating to employment in local government, public schools, higher education, and state government through its pocket guides.
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) is the national leader in early care and education workforce research and policy since 1999. CSCCE acts on the premise that educators should be valued, respected, and guaranteed economic dignity, and that the provision of early care and education is a public responsibility.
Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics
The Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics (CWED) was established in 2007 to focus on wage and employment trends in contemporary labor markets. CWED is nationally recognized for its trailblazing research on the impact of minimum and subminimum wage policies, as well as the effects of the Great Recession, public sector workers, low-wage labor markets, and teacher pay.
Climate and Society Center
The UC Berkeley Climate and Society Center (CSC) brings together faculty and students with California climate justice activists and lawmakers, to undertake critical research on specific policies that will support the state’s transition to renewable energy with zero-carbon emissions for all communities.
Macro Labor Lab
The recently established Macro Labor Center for the Study of Aggregate Labor Markets, Policies, and Institutions (Macro Labor Center) aims to serve as a hub for research at the intersections of labor economics and macroeconomics. Its goal is to further the understanding of aggregate labor markets and of the impacts and workings of labor market policies and institutions. The Center’s director is Prof. Benjamin Schoefer.