Institute for Justice
License to Work
May 2012
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Dick M. Carpenter II, Ph.D.
Director of Strategic Research
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Lisa Knepper
Director of Strategic Research
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John Ross
Editor and Producer, Short Circuit
License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing is the first national study to measure how burdensome occupational licensing laws are for lower-income workers and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The report documents the license requirements for 102 low- and moderate-income occupations—such as barber, massage therapist and preschool teacher—across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It finds that occupational licensing is not only widespread, but also overly burdensome and frequently irrational.
On average, these licenses force aspiring workers to spend nine months in education or training, pass one exam and pay more than $200 in fees. One third of the licenses take more than a year to earn. At least one exam is required for 79 of the occupations.
Barriers like these make it harder for people to find jobs and build new businesses that create jobs, particularly minorities, those of lesser means and those with less education.
License to Work recommends reducing or removing needless licensing barriers. The report’s rankings of states and occupations by severity of licensure burdens make it easy to compare laws and identify those most in need of reform.
State Profiles
Occupational Profiles
Export Data
- LTW State Data
- LTW Occupation
- LTW Export
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- The Occupations
- Ranking the Occupations
- Ranking the States
- The Irrationalities of Occupational Licensure
- Protection from Competition, Not for Consumers
- Alternatives to Licensure
- Conclusion and Recommendations
- Tables
- Table 1: Number of States that License 102 Lower-Income Occupations
- Table 2: Estimated Demographics of Those Working in Lower-Income Occupations
- Table 3: Burdens of Licensure: Occupations Ranked by Average Burden
- Table 4: Breadth and Burden of Licensure: Occupations Ranked by Number and Average Burden of Licensed States Combined
- Table 5: Average Occupational Requirements by Tier
- Table 6: Number and Percentage of Low-Income Occupations Licensed by State
- Table 7: States Ranked by Average Burden of Licensing Requirements
- Table 8: States Ranked by Number and Average Burden of Licensing Requirements Combined
- Table 9: Average State Requirements by Tier
- Appendix: Methods
In the News
Press Releases
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Press Release
Texas Supreme Court Strikes Down Useless Eyebrow Threading License
Austin, Tex.—Today, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled in favor of five eyebrow threaders and against a state agency that wanted to lock them out of their jobs with expensive and irrelevant licensing requirements. The Court ruled 6 to 3 that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) violated the state constitution when it…
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Related Reports
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The Inverted Pyramid
10 Less Restrictive Alternatives to Occupational Licensing
