Labor Market & Workforce

Testimony at the Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2015-2016 Executive Budget – Human Services

February 4, 2015. Submitted by Elizabeth McNichol, FPI Senior Fellow. Testimony includes: recommendations for the 2015-2016 state fiscal year; a summary and analysis of actual and proposed reductions in Human Services spending; use of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding in the 2015-2016 Executive Budget; and, the impact of decline in the purchasing power of the monthly cash assistance grant.

2024-12-18T12:27:06-05:00February 4th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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New York’s Top 1% See All Income Gains Since Recession

January 26, 2015. The incomes of the top 1 percent in New York State were nearly 50 times more than the bottom 99 percent in 2012, according to new analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). The Fiscal Policy Institute is a founding member of the EARN network. In The Increasingly Unequal States of America: Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2012, economists Estelle Sommelier and Mark Price update their analysis of IRS tax data—using the same [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:06-05:00January 26th, 2015|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases|
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Mayor de Blasio Can Make Lasting Change with Nonprofit Living Wages and Career Opportunities

December 16, 2014. In recent years, there have been increased conversations at both the City and State level to address growing wage inequality through the provision of a living wage. However, one important segment of the workforce historically has been left out of these conversations-- nonprofit employees. This op-ed by Jennifer Jones-Austin, CEO/Executive Director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute describes how the Social Services Career Ladder project will address this wage inequality.

2024-12-18T12:27:22-05:00December 16th, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Letters, State Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Wage Standards are Key to Reversing the Erosion of Wages and Living Standards in New York City

December 16, 2014. Despite considerable growth in the New York City economy over the past two decades, very little of that growth has trickled down to the average worker and his or her family, according to our new report. Wage standards like the minimum wage and the living wage are critical in ensuring that there is a floor under the job market and that workers are adequately paid. Prevailing wage standards, however, are a key means to ensure that skilled labor provides a path into [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:22-05:00December 16th, 2014|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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42% of NYC residents don’t have enough income to cover the basic necessities of a Self-Sufficiency budget, according to a new report.

December 2, 2014. According to the new 2014 edition of the Self-Sufficiency Standard for NYC, released today by the Women’s Center for Education and Career Advancement at a forum at the New School, the cost of a basic family budget in New York City has increased by 45% since 2000 while the median earnings of adults increased by only 17% over the past 14 years. The report, Overlooked and Undercounted: the Struggle to Make Ends Meet in New York City, is an update and extension [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:22-05:00December 2nd, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Must Read, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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Economic and fiscal impacts of proposed consolidations involving 5 postal facilities

November 10, 2014.  The American Postal Workers Union asked FPI to estimate the net economic and fiscal impacts of proposed consolidations involving five postal facilities around the country. The proposed consolidations were part of a nationwide “cost-savings” plan that would have further slowed mail delivery times. One of these involved a proposal to downsize sorting operations at the mail processing center in Newburgh, New York, in the lower Hudson Valley and to consolidate these operations at the Albany processing and distribution facility, 90 miles away. [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:23-05:00November 10th, 2014|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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NYC Median Family Income Up for First Time since Great Recession

October 15, 2014. After five years of decline, median family income in New York City rose by 3.5 percent between 2012 and 2013 in inflation-adjusted terms, according to recently-published Census data.[1] This compares with increases of 0.9 percent at the national level and 1.6 percent for all of New York State, including the city. While the city’s increase far surpassed the nation’s and state’s, median family income in the city was still 5.2 percent lower in 2013 than it had been in 2008 at the [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:23-05:00October 15th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce|
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Expanding Opportunities and Improving City Social Services Quality through a Career Ladder Approach

September 24, 2014. The City of New York delivers most human services through $5 billion in annual contracts with non-profit providers. However, there are insufficient opportunities for lower-level social service case workers at these providers to acquire the education needed to move up a career ladder to more responsibility and better compensation. The result is a two-tiered job market that confines many women of color to the lower tier making inadequate wages. Thisprogram, explored a unique opportunity to address this challenge. Presenters Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO/Executive [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:23-05:00September 24th, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Hundreds of thousands of low-income families would benefit from a New York minimum wage increase

July 17, 2014. David Neumark’s piece in the July 6 Wall Street Journal (“Who Really Gets the Minimum Wage?”) argues that because some low-wage earners are in high-income families, increasing the minimum wage isn’t a very effective way to reduce poverty. In particular, he cites research to the effect that “if we were to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 nationally, 18% of the benefits of the higher wages (holding employment fixed) would go to poor families [but] 29% would go to families with incomes [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:24-05:00July 17th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Social Policy|
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Over one-third of New York City employees are paid less than $14 an hour; workers of color are twice as likely to be low-wage

June 17, 2014. The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) released a new data brief today showing the sector of employment and race/ethnicity for New York City workers paid less than $14 an hour. On an annual basis, $14 an hour would put a family $1,900 below the $31,039 poverty threshold for a New York City family. Altogether, 1.2 million New York City workers are paid less than $14 an hour, 36 percent of all public and private wage and salary workers. This includes part-time as well [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:24-05:00June 17th, 2014|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Reform of NY’s TDI Program and Provision of Family Leave Insurance: Estimated Costs

June 5, 2014. In this report, FPI estimates costs for increasing workers' weekly wages during temporary disability leaves and extending those benefits to family leaves under proposed legislation in the Assembly and Senate. As an increasing number of women and mothers participate in the workforce, federal and state laws and policies have not met the needs of both male and female workers who must balance taking care of themselves and their families with the responsibilities of work. Under Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) in New York, [...]

2025-04-04T14:27:27-04:00June 5th, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Must Read, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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Testimony to Raise the Statewide Minimum Wage and Allow Localities to Set a Higher Minimum Wage

June 2, 2014. FPI’s James Parrott submitted testimony for the June 2 New York State Senate Labor Committee hearing on several minimum wage-related bills, including five bills that would authorize local governments to enact minimum wages above the statewide level, and one bill that would establish a statewide “living wage” of $15 an hour, indexed to inflation, for certain large employers and chain stores. The FPI testimony reviewed several reasons why it makes sense for New York State to authorize cities and counties to establish [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:25-05:00June 2nd, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Testimony|
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Testimony on Local Government Minimum Wage Authority

April 30, 2014. In testimony presented before the New York City Council, FPI’s James Parrott reviewed several reasons why it makes sense for New York State to authorize cities and counties to establish higher minimum wage levels than the statewide minimum. Parrott’s testimony cited data showing that there are wide disparities across counties within the state in terms of the local cost of living, and that there is a similar wide disparity in median wage levels, particularly between New York City and suburban counties on [...]

2024-12-18T12:27:25-05:00April 30th, 2014|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Testimony|
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