Social Policy

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Download the Memo Download the Report The Fiscal Policy Institute today released two publications on how to fix New York State's insolvent unemployment insurance system: a memo recommending tax changes, and a short report detailing the UI system’s chronic underfunding and low benefit level. Unemployment insurance (UI), which provides temporary income to laid-off workers, is one of the State’s most important economic stabilization policies. Unemployment can both throw workers into poverty and exacerbate recessions by [...]

, 2025-04-04T14:22:31-04:00March 24th, 2025|Must Read, Social Policy, State Budget, Tax Policy|
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How the CDPAP Transition Could Leave Thousands of Home Care Workers Uninsured

The statewide transition to PPL on April 1 risks being a catastrophe for home care workers – lowering wages while eliminating health insurance coverage for tens or even hundreds of thousands of workers. Neither PPL nor the state has offered any explanation of why this is happening or what PPL intends to do about it; many workers are currently seeking information about whether they will still have health insurance on April 1.

2025-03-25T14:06:57-04:00March 17th, 2025|Featured on Home, Healthcare|
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What to Expect in the Budget: Housing Policy

The fiscal year 2026 budget cycle is upon us and “affordability” is taking center stage. The mandate to address the rapidly rising cost-of-living in New York has never been more urgent, with consumer prices up about 20 percent since 2020. The cost of housing, in particular, has skyrocketed in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic, with home prices up over 50 percent—making housing costs the number one priority for addressing affordability in New York.

2025-01-31T14:33:57-05:00January 20th, 2025|Housing, State Budget|
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What to Expect in the Budget: Healthcare

Healthcare didn’t take center stage in Governor Hochul’s State of the State address this week, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be central to New York politics this session. After all, rising healthcare costs are a key component of the affordability crisis squeezing New Yorkers, with premiums for individual and small-group health insurance set to increase by 12.7 percent this year.

2025-01-19T10:55:58-05:00January 19th, 2025|Healthcare, State Budget|
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Governor Hochul’s Affordability Policy Report Card

Governor Hochul’s State of the State address made clear that “affordability” is her top priority this session. As part of her agenda, Governor Hochul and her team have put forward a set of policies intended to “put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets.”  The four major proposals include a tax cut, an “inflation rebate payment,” an expansion of the child tax credit, and fully funding free school lunches for all public-school students in the State.

2025-01-18T11:20:10-05:00January 18th, 2025|Housing, State Budget|
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Does New York State Have Universal Pre-K?

By the State’s account, it currently provides enough UPK funding to provide a UPK seat to every four-year-old in the State. Nevertheless, the program remains far short of universal, with incomplete coverage of four-year-olds outside of the state’s major cities and limited provision for three-year-olds across the state.

2025-01-10T01:28:03-05:00January 10th, 2025|Blog, Education, Social Policy|
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The Staffing Crisis in Upstate Hospitals

FPI today released a report by Dr. Emily Eisner on the staffing crisis in Upstate New York's hospitals. The report finds that 90 percent of Upstate hospital shifts are current understaffed, and that an additional 5,000 Registered Nurses and 20,000 ancillary staff are needed to achieve safe staffing levels. As the report shows, chronic understaffing leads to a 14 percent rise in mortality risk for patients on the worst 10 percent of hospital units—about 280 additional patients death for every 100,000 hospitalizations.

2024-12-20T00:09:59-05:00December 16th, 2024|Healthcare, Must Read, Policy & Research, Social Policy|
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The Federal Housing Policy Landscape

State housing policy relies heavily on two federal programs that support housing affordability: the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as “Section 8” vouchers). These two programs underpin most affordable housing construction in the US and play an important role in the provision of affordable housing in New York State.

2024-12-18T15:56:17-05:00December 9th, 2024|Blog, Featured on Home, Housing, Social Policy|
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Making Sense of New York’s Medicaid Long-Term Care Spending

New York spends more on Medicaid long-term care than most states, but this higher spending is driven primarily by higher enrollment, particularly among seniors, rather than by higher per-enrollee spending. This high enrollment reflects policymakers’ decision to make long-term care, particularly home care, relatively accessible for working- and middle-class seniors.

2024-12-20T00:17:18-05:00December 4th, 2024|Blog, Featured on Home, Healthcare, Social Policy|
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Understanding Childcare Policy in New York

Childcare in New York State is unaffordable for many families, yet inadequately supports its workers. The State’s childcare costs are the third highest in the U.S., putting a strain on family budgets across the income distribution. The Bronx and Brooklyn have the costliest childcare as a share of family income of any county in the U.S.

2025-03-18T15:24:05-04:00November 1st, 2024|Blog, Education, Featured on Home|
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FPI Testimony on “City of Yes”

My name is Emily Eisner, and I am an Economist working with the Fiscal Policy Institute. I am testifying in support of the “City of Yes” plan. The City must pass the zoning reforms included in City of Yes, and, in addition, the City must increase investment in housing affordability through expanded fiscal measures. These two sets of policies — zoning reform to allow for increased supply, and fiscal support for housing affordability — work together.

2024-12-26T16:42:25-05:00October 22nd, 2024|City Budget, Housing, Social Policy|
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