Economic Trends & Policy

Millions of Dollars Help Immigrants and Boost the Local Economy Across NYS

Sept. 3, 2021. The first data is out: $250 million has already been issued to immigrants who lost work during the pandemic but were excluded from federal aid, and another $600 million is “undergoing final verification.” After just the first month, 50,000 people have already been found eligible, funds have been dispersed to over 10,000, and another 40,000 are in the final stages of the verification process. Equally impressive: 99 percent of those who have received the funds are approved for $15,600, the higher of [...]

2024-12-18T12:24:17-05:00September 3rd, 2021|Migration|

Economy Shows Improvement, but Employment Needs Time to Recover

Read the full report here: Economy Shows Improvement, but Employment Needs Time to Recover Several measures show signs of gradual improvement for New York residents as the state emerges from the covid-19 recession. One such indicator is the steep decline of new unemployment insurance claims, which had recently peaked in winter this year. Another such positive indicator is the continued gradual decrease in the statewide unemployment (U-3) rate, which peaked at 16.2 in April of 2020 as a result of pandemic-induced layoffs and business closures. The [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:19-04:00June 10th, 2021|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

NY’s Excluded Worker Fund is a Model for Other States – CBPP and EPI

Two national groups put a spotlight on FPI's work with the Fund Excluded Worker Coalition that resulted in $2.1 billion toward allowing undocumented immigrants to get something like what others in New York got in unemployment benefits and stimulus payments. This was a historic victory that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute are encouraging other states to follow! CBPP: Whitney Tucker, Deputy Director of Research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, pointed to the fund as a prime [...]

2024-12-18T12:24:17-05:00May 24th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

FPI Testifies to Congress on Immigrant Businesses and Economic Recovery

The director of FPI's Immigration Research Initiative, David Dyssegaard Kallick, was invited to testify before the Congressional Small Business Committee about the role of immigrant businesses in the economic recovery after Covid. Kallick talked about two recovery scenarios: A Main Street-centered rebuilding that picks up on some innovations from the Covid period such as outdoor restaurants, expanded pedestrian areas, and bike paths that have transformed many downtowns and urban centers in very positive ways. This scenario would entail Main Streets as vibrant places where people [...]

2024-12-18T12:24:18-05:00April 30th, 2021|Blog, Migration, Testimony|

State and Local Employment in New York, Cut in the Pandemic, Has Been Down for a Decade

Read the full report here: State and Local Employment in New York, Cut in the Pandemic, Has Been Down for a Decade State and local government employment is vital to our economy and our quality of life. State and local governments—and their employees—exist because New Yorkers have decided over generations that we need people who are dedicated and trained to teach our children, clean our streets, protect our communities, maintain our highways and bridges, and perform hundreds of other jobs. The number of public employees [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:19-04:00April 21st, 2021|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Policy & Research, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Undocumented Women in NYC Particularly Hard Hit by “She-Cession”

Something different has happened during the COVID recession than is typical for other recessions: there has been noticeably more job loss among women than among men. Dr. C Nicole Mason, President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, coined the term “she-cession” to describe this gendered pattern of job loss that is the converse of what in 2008-09 was sometimes called a “mancession.” Women of color, as Mason notes, have been even more starkly impacted by job loss, a double impact since they started in [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:19-04:00April 19th, 2021|Blog, Migration|

Make Care Work, Fair Work

FPI's Shamier Settle was interviewed on Equal Rights & Justice radio, WBAI 99.5 FM with Marrisa Senteno, Co-Director of the NY Chapter of the National Domestic Workers's Alliance. FPI's report, Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York , was highlighted in this episode of Equal Rights and Justice with Mimi Rosenberg. Listen to the interview below.

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00April 16th, 2021|FPI in the News, Migration|

Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York

Download the full report: "Domestic Workers Are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York" Throughout the coronavirus crisis domestic workers have been placed under a double pressure. Already underpaid, many have lost their jobs, or lost hours on the job, putting them under added financial stress. Even when on the job, however, domestic workers find themselves under added physical and psychological stress, acting as essential workers during a pandemic at some risk to their own health as they protect the health of others. Domestic [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00April 12th, 2021|Healthcare, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Domestic Workers in New York: By the Numbers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021 Contact: Shamier Settle, ssettle@fiscalpolicy.org, 347-834-5760 Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York Domestic Workers are Essential to our Economy and will be highlighted in Biden Infrastructure Plan Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York” (Albany, NY) –Domestic workers are doing the intense and intimate labor of caring for our families and our households. As the fallout of the global pandemic has made clear, they are essential to our [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00April 12th, 2021|Migration, Press Releases|

Excluded Worker Fund Will Benefit 290,000 Undocumented New Yorkers and Boost Local Economies

The New York State Excluded Worker Fund passed in this year's budget at last provides a meaningful level of assistance to undocumented workers who have been excluded from major federal pandemic assistance. The $2.1 billion fund creates two tiers of aid. Tier 1 is on a rough par with unemployment insurance, and provides $15,600 to undocumented workers who can meet its strict standards of proof of eligibility. Tier 2 pays $3,200, and is on a par with the three rounds of federal stimulus payments ($1,200, $600, [...]

2024-12-18T12:24:18-05:00April 7th, 2021|Migration, Must Read|

Fact Sheet: State and Local Government Employment Has Been Largely Static, With Full-Time Jobs Eliminated in Critical Areas

Full-time employment in state government jobs grew by only 1 percent in New York State between 2010-2019, with the number of those employed totaling just over 236,000 in 2019. At the same time, local government employment decreased by 1 percent for full-time employees, with the number of employed totaling just over 882,000 in 2019, down from 893,000 in 2010. Full-time employment losses in both state and local government affected the areas of health, natural resources, and social and public welfare. Employment losses in health and [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00March 26th, 2021|City Budget, Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Policy & Research, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax Policy|

Fact Sheet: Black New York Workers Have Been Hit Hard By The Pandemic Statewide

THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC HAD AN UNPRECEDENTED EFFECT ON THE JOBS AND INCOMES OF NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS, in addition to upending social norms and taking the lives of thousands. However, the pandemic’s burden was not evenly distributed across our population. The Fiscal Policy Institute found that Black workers statewide, who already had a higher rate of unemployment prior to the pandemic, experienced even greater losses. Our first analysis compares the employment measures among Black New Yorkers between March to November 2019 and March to November [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00March 24th, 2021|Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce, State Budget|

A Tax Credit for Working New Yorkers

New York State’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a proven program that working New Yorkers rely on. The EITC keeps more money in workers’ pockets, providing more money to spend on essentials like food, transportation, housing, education, and child care. The EITC is a critical support for workers, their families, local economies, and the state! Before the pandemic, far too many New Yorkers were unable to earn a stable and sufficient income through work. This problem persisted despite the recent increases to our state’s [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:20-04:00March 23rd, 2021|Blog, Economic Trends & Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Fact Sheet: New York State Must Invest in Not‐for‐Profit Service Providers to Protect New Yorkers and Advance Equity

The Social Assistance subsector includes workers who provide direct and vital social assistance services to consumers, including vulnerable and at-risk populations and communities. It consists of the following industry groups: Individual and Family Services; Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services; Vocational Rehabilitation Services; Child Day Care Services.1 In 2019, there were nearly 380,000 people estimated to be employed in New York’s social assistance subsector by not-for-profit, government, and private employers, 133,000 of whom (35 percent) were employed by not-for-profits. In New York State, total not-for-profit employment is largest in the Individual and Family Services and Child and Day [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:21-04:00March 22nd, 2021|Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce, State Budget, Tax & Budget|

One Year Into Pandemic, Thousands Of Excluded Workers Are Still Begging For Relief

This Gothamist article tells the personal story of an excluded worker and the on-going efforts in New York State to create an excluded worker fund. Excluded workers are those who have lost work due to COVID, but have been excluded from any federal or state relief (federal stimulus or state unemployment due to their immigration status or recent incarceration. “The need is urgent,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative. “Unemployment insurance has been a lifesaver to so many [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:21-04:00March 19th, 2021|FPI in the News, Migration, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|