Pet sitting and dog walking are growing in popularity as flexible money-earning opportunities thanks to the sharing economy. New York City has a problem with that if you don’t have a license.
Many jobs and occupations carry licensing requirements which close the door to entrepreneurship and honest working opportunities for many Americans – especially those who need opportunity most.
We need to reform occupational licenses (AKA government permission slips to work). The Big Apple is a good place to start.
Here’s an excerpt from my op-ed:
Technology is offering easy entry points to work, but occupational licenses are a stumbling block on the path out of unemployment, out of poverty, and toward upward mobility for Americans.
Occupational licenses are government permission slips that allow people to work in a vocation or occupation. Massage therapists, yoga instructors, truck drivers, security guards, makeup artists, crane operators, cosmetologists, shampooers, and interior designers all require licenses in different states. More than one-quarter of U.S. workers require a license to do their jobs ? a five-fold increase since the 1950s.
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Reforming licensure is a cause that unites conservatives and libertarians with some on the Left. The Obama administration acknowledged the hardship occupational licenses placed on workers and tried to make federal efforts at reform.
Read my full op-ed in the Washington Examiner.
