“Shifts in employment patterns were tied to removing material barriers to full-time employment and removing time and capacity limits created by scarcity and precarity. Material barriers included the ability to reduce the number of part-time shifts or gig work in order to apply for stronger positions. This included completing internships, training, or coursework that lead to full-time employment or promotions, or reallocating resources in a way that facilitates seeking better job prospects. For example, one man in his mid 30s had been eligible for a real estate license for more than a year, but could not afford taking the time off work to complete it. With the $500, he says that his life was “converted 360 degrees… because I have more time and net worth to study… to achieve my goals.” As reflected in the spending data, financial scarcity generates time scarcity. Simply put, when every dollar of wage work is allocated for bills before it is earned, most cannot afford to skip work or take necessary steps toward better employment structurally trapping them regardless of individual effort. While these constraints are widely studied as limits for saving and asset building (Sherraden et. al, 2015), these findings indicate that it may also limit how workers react to local job markets.”