The White House report, entitled Occupational Licensing: A Framework for Policymakers, raises some important points. First, “more than one-quarter of U.S. workers now require a license to do their jobs, with most of these workers licensed by the states. The share of workers licensed at the state level has risen fivefold since the 1950s.” Where a license used to be required only for unusual jobs, now licensing requirements take up a major part of the employment sphere — and not just for physicians, but also for florists or funeral attendants.
Many of the jobs subject to licensing are the sort of entry-level or near-entry level jobs traditionally occupied by poor people trying to better themselves. Forcing them to undergo testing, apprenticeships, etc., in order to occupy these jobs makes bettering themselves much harder, reducing social mobility.