National Urban League CEO Marc Morial Talks Workforce for Black Americans

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: National Urban League CEO Marc Morial Talks Workforce for Black Americans

Date: August 7, 2026
Guest: Marc Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League
Host: Bloomberg (with Co-Hosts)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the troubling decline in labor force participation among Black mothers in America, set against the broader backdrop of economic opportunity, equity, and the enduring struggle for the American Dream among Black Americans. Marc Morial, head of the National Urban League, discusses factors behind recent job losses, the erosion of civil rights advances, the national affordability crisis, and policy failures that contribute to growing inequality. The conversation addresses both immediate challenges—declining job stats and housing costs—and possible solutions, urging a reset of national priorities and public-private partnerships.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Steep Labor Force Decline Among Black Mothers

[00:37 - 01:51]

• Bloomberg highlights a sharp drop—11.5 percentage points over three months—in labor force participation among Black mothers aged 25-54 with young children (lowest level in 30+ years).
• Unlike other groups, this drop is especially pronounced, not easily explained by broader trends affecting all mothers.

Marc Morial explains:

• Layoffs have hit professional Black women hard, a result of corporate cost cuts and pushback on diversity initiatives.
• Childcare costs exacerbate workforce exits, especially when jobs are lost:

  "Many of these Black women have been laid off from their jobs. The cuts, the attacks on diversity in corporate America have cost literally over half a million, maybe three quarters of a million Black women their jobs...college educated, graduate degrees." (Marc Morial, 01:51)

• Black unemployment rate rose from 4.3% two years ago to 6.3%:

  "Things are deteriorating. It's tough out here. It's difficult." (Marc Morial, 02:48)

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2. The Widening Gap to the American Dream

[03:06 - 05:54]

• The National Urban League’s recent report warns the American Dream is more elusive for Black Americans than at any time since the Civil Rights movement.
• Key obstacles:
  • Dismantling or underfunding of civil rights enforcement (e.g., EEOC, Civil Rights Act)
  • Government backing away from active leadership on diversity
  • National priorities shifting towards military spending and tax benefits for ultra-wealthy, rather than supporting working/middle-class and vulnerable communities
• Broader disillusionment:

  "The American dream is beyond my reach. The idea of a stable job, the idea that I can own a home, that I can afford healthcare, take care of parents, children...We have to restore, revive, refine the American dream." (Marc Morial, 04:15) "America’s priorities are misplaced...the American people, on the right, the middle, and the left, are not pleased with the direction...so this report speaks to Black America, but I think it speaks much more broadly to all of the American people." (Marc Morial, 05:22)

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3. Income and Affordability: Core Challenges

[07:03 - 09:27]

• Stagnant minimum wage is central:

  "We haven't had a comprehensive national minimum wage bill since 2007—tragic...We need a national living wage bill." (Marc Morial, 07:09)

• Many Americans (Black and otherwise) work multiple jobs yet still cannot get by.
• Housing costs outpace wages by a factor of five since 2000.
• Calls for:
  • Aggressive affordable housing initiatives
  • Expansion of the housing voucher (Section 8) program using budget currently spent elsewhere (e.g., military)

  "Are we prioritizing affordability? Are we prioritizing inclusion, or are we prioritizing destruction?" "I just think billionaires shouldn’t get any special breaks, no special privileges...that is the fundamental principle of fairness in America." (Marc Morial, 08:46)

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4. The Scale and Nature of the Housing Crisis

[09:27 - 11:22]

• National shortage of 4-5 million affordable units after housing construction slowed post-9/11.
• Local governments try to act, but "this is a resource problem" that requires federal, state, and private cooperation.
• Historically, federal intervention via FHA, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, and community reinvestment drove solutions; that model should return.

  "Too many Americans paying up to 50% plus of their take home income for rents and mortgages. This is not sustainable if we are going to revive, reform, and resuscitate the American dream." (Marc Morial, 10:48)

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5. Hope, the Role of Policy, and Public-Private Partnerships

[11:22 - 13:48]

• America’s economic health depends on broad inclusion and consumer prosperity.
• Urges that the country’s priorities return to "domestic tranquility" and “inclusionary economic growth,” not just market outcomes.
• Partnership and collaboration—local to federal, public and private—are vital for scalable solutions (“We helped 2,000 people become homeowners last year; we could do more with supply and tools”).

Optimism tempered by realism:

"I'm an eternal optimist, but I do think people are going to have to send a message in these midterms to rebalance the conversation because the premise here is: what are America's priorities?" (Marc Morial, 11:55)
"When we do that as a nation, the public sector and the private sector thrive...People have money in their pocket to spend. This is why I'm such a proponent of wage increases..." (Marc Morial, 12:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Black workforce decline:

  "I run into so many black women who have never known unemployment, who are now out of work...highly educated, college educated black women." (Marc Morial, 02:13)

• On the "Big Ugly Bill":

  "A fiscal plan which is...the Big Ugly Bill...shifts resources significantly away from middle class Americans...to the richest billionaires in America, just 1,000 people." (Marc Morial, 04:45)

• On systemic solutions:

  "It's not the feds versus the state, not the state versus the city, not the public sector versus the private sector, but a combination...to deal with one of America's great crises." (Marc Morial, 10:06)

• On optimism:

  "I'm an eternal optimist, but I do think people are going to have to send a message...to rebalance the conversation...America’s priority should always be centered around domestic tranquility, domestic economic growth, inclusionary economic growth." (Marc Morial, 11:55; 12:09)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:37 – Context on the labor force decline for Black mothers
• 01:06 – Introduction of Marc Morial
• 01:51 – Causes behind Black women leaving the workforce
• 03:49 – Big picture: The American Dream slipping further away
• 07:03 – Discussion on wages and cost-of-living policy solutions
• 09:27 – Housing crisis and the need for public-private partnerships
• 11:55 – Optimism about future, call for policy and political change
• 13:48 – Examples of local Urban League homeownership success

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Summary

Marc Morial paints a sobering picture: Black mothers are exiting the workforce at historic rates due to targeted layoffs, rollbacks of diversity initiatives, and unaffordable childcare, despite high levels of education. This crisis magnifies larger U.S. problems: declining real wages, a massive housing shortage, and a sense that the American Dream is increasingly reserved for the privileged few. Morial urges realignment of the country’s priorities toward fairness, affordability, and meaningful investment in working- and middle-class Americans—with a particular focus on wage policy and cooperative action on housing.

He ends on a note of cautious optimism, contending that broad-based prosperity remains attainable if leaders and citizens demand a reset in national focus—prioritizing inclusion and equity for all.

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Transcript

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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News Our

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

Bloomberg news team out with a piece this week about how black mothers with young children are leaving the workforce at an alarming pace. Labor force participation Carol among Black mothers age 25 to 54 with children under five. So really it's a really important demographic because 25 to 54 is the prime working age. Okay. Has fallen 11 and a half percentage points in just three months. It's dropped to its lowest level in over 30 years. This is according to analysis of BLS data by Lauren Bauer, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institution.

[Bloomberg Host]

Back with us is Marc Morial. He is president and CEO of the civil rights and urban advocacy organization, the National Urban League. He joins us from New York. Mark, thank you so much. Nice to have you.

[Marc Morial]

Thank you. Good afternoon.

[Bloomberg Host]

Back on back on Bloomberg, you know, we set up Tim had just mentioned we were talking about labor force participation among black mothers. The piece continues to note that the decline is not simply part of a broader retreat among working mothers driven by return to office mandates and childcare pressures. White and Hispanic mothers have seen much smaller pullbacks. That suggests the reversal is particularly cute among black mothers. It's a group of workers we know who are traditionally more likely to work than their peers. What is going on? Give us your view on this.

[Marc Morial]

One thing that's going on is that many of these black women have been laid off from their jobs. The Doge cuts, the attacks on diversity in corporate America have cost literally over half a million, maybe three quarters of a million black women their jobs. These are professional black women in many respects with college degrees and graduate degrees. And that impact is exacerbated by the fact that childcare is exceedingly expensive and difficult. So mothers, if you do not have a job, you may have to retreat from the workforce and stop looking for work. But a period of time. And I think that is what is going on. It is difficult out here. I mean, I mean, these numbers, I can say anecdotally, I run into so many black women who have never known unemployment, who are now out of work. And these are hot, excuse me, highly educated, college educated black women. This is what's going on. Look at this jobs report. We've got a loss of jobs and then we've got a black unemployment rate at 6.3% where two years ago it was 4.3%. So things are deteriorating. It's tough out here. It's difficult.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

Mark, what, what is, what is notable about this is, you know, this, this report that, that we're getting from our Bloomberg news team. This, this came out yesterday. Okay. We get additional data about the workforce today as we do every single month with the payrolls report. But last week, or I should say last month, just at the end of last month, you and the team at the National Urban League came out with a stark warning, essentially, that says the American dream may not be dead for many black Americans, but it's further away than at any point since the civil rights movement. How does the data that, that Carol and I were talking about fit into what you found? Big picture about where we are since the civil rights movement.

[Marc Morial]

It supports the fact that in the last 18 months we've seen a deterioration and it's been an attack on many of the structures, the Civil Rights act, the eeoc, the commitment by the government to lead when it comes to diversity and all of the retreats and all of the retrenchments and when we talk to people in the community, and this is black people. But I would say even beyond, they say the American dream is beyond my reach. The idea of a stable job that pays and allows me to prepare for retirement. The idea that I can own a home, that I can afford, take care of health care, take care of my parents, take care of my children. We are dealing with what the American people are saying, what black Americans are saying, that the American dream is beyond reach. We have to restore, revive, refine the American dream. Which is why our State of Black America report includes a 5, 6 point affordability agenda. My premise is that America's priorities are misplaced. The misplacement is that there's this focus on wars, $2 billion a day in Iraq and a depletion of our missile stockpiles. A fiscal plan, which is all the Big Ugly bill is called. I call it the Big Ugly Bill that shifts resources significantly away from middle class Americans, working class Americans, aspiring middle class Americans and vulnerable Americans to the richest billionaires In America, just 1,000 people. And the American people on the right, the middle and the left are not pleased with the direction of the country and the priorities of the country. So this report speaks to black America, but I think it speaks much more broadly to all of the American people.

[Bloomberg Host]

Mark, do you want to grab some water? We don't know if you need to get a little bit of water. Are you okay?

[Marc Morial]

Yeah, I'm going to work through this year. I've been. I had a little hiccup attack. Oh, okay.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

We've all been there, Mark.

[Bloomberg Host]

That's. We've all also had coughing attacks on air, so that's fine as long as you're okay. We would just want to make sure to be fair.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

Marcus spent, you know, his lifetime speaking in front of large groups as a former mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002. He was the city's youngest mayor. He has was a Louisiana state senator, too, in the 1990s. So, yeah, we've all been there, Mark.

[Bloomberg Host]

We have definitely been there.

[Marc Morial]

Thank you for your indulge, Mark.

[Bloomberg Host]

You know, one of the things we think about, we talk about a lot. I mean, the first state of black America was published in 76. It's a long time ago, right? There's a lot of years. There's a lot has happened, you know, and I am amazed at. Some things have certainly gotten better, but we still have some really tough situations for segments of our population, for segments of what is America. And I don't know if we're making progress anymore. When you look at policies that are out there, what could we do better?

[Marc Morial]

One thing we can do better is focus on income, the earnings of people. The fact that we haven't had a comprehensive national minimum wage bill since 2007 is tragic. Even though we've been through economic up, excuse me, ups and downs, we need a national living wage bill. We've got to recognize that too many people are working hard every day. They work sometimes two jobs, but they still can't make ends meet. So we've got to work on income. We've also got to work on what is driving the affordability crisis, and that is housing. The cost of housing. The cost of housing has increased five times faster than incomes. Think about that since the year 2000. There are many reasons for it. We need to build. We need an aggressive initiative in this country to build more affordable housing. And I think we ought to take the housing voucher program, which has worked for many, many years, and expand the eligibility. It's sometimes called the Section 8 program. We could do it with the exact same amount of money we're spending on Iran Wall. That is the point. It's an issue of priorities. What are we prioritizing in America? Are we prioritizing affordability? Are we prioritizing inclusion, or are we prioritizing destruction? And are we prioritizing the transfer of wealth to the highest and most successful Americans? And look, I'm not a billionaire basher. That's not the point. I just think billionaires shouldn't get any special breaks, no special privileges. I think they ought to pay the same taxes as a, you know, as a reporter or an anchor or a nurse or a firefighter or a teacher or a service worker. I think that is the fundamental principle of fairness in America.

[Bloomberg Co-Host]

But, Mark, I want to dig into this housing part of the conversation. We talk about this a lot, and there's certainly no clear, easy answer to this. And that's why I'm interested in what you have to say. You worked, you were in local politics as, as mayor of New Orleans. You were a state senator. You have a national position now. It's not a political position, but it's a national advocacy organization. Doesn't this have. Doesn't the housing issue have to have to start at the local level? Because so much of this is about, you know, where exactly a home can be built.

[Marc Morial]

There's no doubt that the local level is important. And I think cities and mayors all across America, I mean, even in New York, you've seen, you know, a whole series of mayors here do what they can with the resources that they have. This is a resource problem. Here's why we the housing market, the building of affordable housing slowed down with 9, 11, and it never bounced back. So all estimates are that we're 4 to 5 million units short. This takes a big play in the early 20th century, in the middle 20th century, when we had a housing crisis in America, the federal government stepped in and produced tools. Those tools were FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. Later on in the 1970s, the Community Reinvestment Act, a series of tools that helped to leverage private sector funding, public money with state and local action. It was enormously successful. We've got to get back to this idea that it is not the feds versus the state, not the state versus the city, not the public sector versus the private sector, but a combination of all of these factors to deal with one of America's great crises. The cost of gas is hurting Americans. I would say that the cost of housing is really hurting Americans, young and old, black and white. It's more exacerbated for black and brown communities, but it is not limited to black and brown communities. What we face. And so, yes, local action, but it's a combination because the problem is so massive. 4 to 5 million housing units underwater in the country. Too many Americans paying up to 50% plus of their take home income for rents and mortgages. This is not sustainable. If we are going to revive, reform and resuscitate the American dream.

[Bloomberg Host]

You know, we think so much too. We talk a lot about the investment office audience and you know, we have to remind everybody that not everybody's in the stock market and there are two, three or four different Americas. And it does feel like we're at a point in time where we've really forgotten so many members of our population and what makes up America. Do you have hope going forward for black Americans and those that are forgotten?

[Marc Morial]

I'm an eternal optimist, but I do think people are going to have to send a message in these midterms to rebalance the conversation because the premise here is what are America's priorities? I believe that America's priority should always be centered around domestic tranquility, domestic economic growth, inclusionary economic growth. And I think when we do that as a nation, the public sector and the private sector thrive. The private sector and the stock market thrive. Remember, 2/3 to 3/4 of the American economy is driven by consumer spending. People have money in their pocket to spend. This is why I'm such a proponent of wage increases and such a proponent of increasing the minimum wage. It's going to benefit the overall economy. And we have to embrace a, if you will a, a if you will a a, you know, a if you will, a philosophy of public private partnerships at the national level. We have to embrace the philosophy of the states, working with the feds, working with local government in order to, to accomplish these big things. I see mayors all across the country. I know we're active in the housing market. We helped 2000 people become homeowners for the first time last year. We could do 4000, we could do 5000 if there was a housing supply and an increase in the number of tools. When I was mayor of New Orleans, I put a big, big, big push on this. But I had Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the banks, community based lenders, the Clinton administration all partnering with us and we increase significantly the number of housing units and the significant number of affordable housing units in the city, not only for rent but also for homeownership.

[Bloomberg Host]

Mark, we know there's so much to go through and we do hope you will afford us some time in the future again so we could continue this conversation, especially as you mentioned, and hang

[Marc Morial]

out with you guys.

[Bloomberg Host]

We would love that. We would love that. Go get some water. Hopefully the hiccups are over. We've all been there. We've all been there, Mark. Stay well. Have a good weekend. Marc Morial, he's president and CEO of the Civil Rights and Urban Advocacy Organization. Of course it is the National Urban League joining us as we appreciate his time on this Friday.

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