Social Policy

Recognizing the 10th Anniversary of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights

The Fiscal Policy Institute was honored to be part of the New York State chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance celebration of the 10th  anniversary of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights on Saturday, December 12th. The NDWA is a strong voice for domestic workers across the nation. Domestic workers provide essential work within our homes, from child-care and caregiving to keeping our homes clean and functioning. The majority of domestic workers are women, mostly immigrants, and women of color. FPI will be releasing [...]

2021-04-06T09:50:13-04:00December 12th, 2020|Blog, Education, Migration|
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The Universal Burden of Education Debt

 December 2020 What do you call a loan that has been obtained for the purpose of financing the costs of higher education? A student loan. However, considering the fastest-growing age segment of student loan borrowers are over the age of 60 and are not students themselves, perhaps there is a more suitable term that can be used–education debt. Much like auto debt, mortgages, and credit debt, the term education debt places emphasis on what the debt has been used for, instead of who has used [...]

2020-12-30T09:47:04-05:00December 3rd, 2020|Blog, Education|
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Student Loan Debt Shortchanges Us All

Economic Recovery Depends on Our Ability to Contribute to the Economy  Read the report: “The Rising Burden of Education Debt on Older New Yorkers”   December 3, 2020 (Albany, NY) The burden of education debt is not limited to students, it includes their parents and grandparents. Currently, the fastest-growing age-segment of the student loan market is age 60 and older. With New York looking for a speedy economic recovery, solving the education debt crisis means a healthier and more productive state.   "Higher education has been portrayed as the key to unlock the door to opportunity [...]

2020-12-30T09:47:36-05:00December 3rd, 2020|Education, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Medicaid Cuts Would Put 554,000 Essential Workers in New York at Risk

October 14, 2020 Many of New York’s “essential workers,” people working in jobs deemed necessary throughout the COVID pandemic, rely on Medicaid for their own health care. They risk severe hardship if federal policymakers fail to provide appropriate increases in Medicaid funding or weaken protections for program enrollees, according to a new analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In New York State over half a million, 554,000, essential workers rely on Medicaid. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic led to a [...]

2020-12-30T09:54:20-05:00October 14th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Robust Rental Assistance Needed to Protect Tenants

August 2020 Download the full brief Governor Cuomo has extended the state’s limited eviction moratorium until September 4, 2020 but the application window for the state’s $100 million COVID Rent Relief program closed on August 6, 2020. Many of New York State’s renters require assistance above and beyond the programs and protections currently in place. The COVID Rent Relief program has limitations. It will only provide up to four months of rental assistance for those earning below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI [...]

2020-12-30T09:55:55-05:00August 26th, 2020|Blog, Housing, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Federal Funding is Essential to Health Care Coverage for New Yorkers

Strengthening Medicaid and protecting health coverage for New Yorkers is critical to ensuring that our state can respond effectively to the coronavirus public health crisis and the current economic recession. The Urban Institute has projected that Medicaid caseloads could increase by as much as 1,204,000, or 22.5 percent, through FY 2021—an unprecedented spike. New York needs help to cover those who are newly unemployed and expected to enroll in Medicaid and offset extra Medicaid costs related to coronavirus. Without proper funding, the state will be [...]

2020-12-30T10:07:31-05:00June 20th, 2020|Blog, Fact Sheets, Healthcare|
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Strengthen Medicaid and Protect Health Coverage for New Yorkers

May 20, 2020 This time last year, New York celebrated its lowest rate of residents without health insurance to date at 5 percent. A historic low that is a continuation of nearly a decade of decline in people who lack health insurance, this record-breaking success set New York apart from the national trend of rising uninsured rates. The public health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic threatens past success in reducing the rate of the uninsured in New York State. We must strengthen [...]

2020-12-30T13:40:32-05:00May 15th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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Unemployment Insurance Taxes Paid for Undocumented Workers in NYS

May 14, 2020 In the midst of a pandemic, there has been a growing call for undocumented immigrants, who make up five percent of the New York State labor force, to be covered by some form of unemployment insurance. What is often overlooked in discussions of unemployment insurance is the extent to which undocumented immigrants are already part of paying into the existing system, even when they are excluded from collecting benefits. Undocumented immigrants face the same challenges as other workers. It does not serve [...]

2021-04-06T09:48:24-04:00May 13th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|
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New York’s Essential Workers Overlooked, Underpaid, and Indispensable

The coronavirus crisis has put a new focus on “essential workers,”  people who are bringing deliveries to our homes, working in supermarkets and convenience stores, keeping the public transportation system functioning, providing social services and childcare, and working in the healthcare industry. These essential workers have always played a critical role in keeping our communities running. At a time when many streets are eerily empty, however, we can see all the more clearly who is still out there making sure people get food on the [...]

2020-12-30T14:01:54-05:00April 8th, 2020|Labor Market & Workforce, Must Read, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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FPI’s New Report Highlights the Unequal State of New York

For Immediate Release: December 6, 2019 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 The Unequal State of New York The Majority of Income is Captured by the Fewest New Yorkers Read the report: The Unequal State of New York click here. (Albany, NY) The Fiscal Policy Institute reports that New York State has the most unequal income distribution in the nation, with the fewest people capturing the greatest share. Not since the “Gilded Age” of the 1920s has our state seen such a vast divide between the highest- and [...]

2021-03-31T15:27:28-04:00December 6th, 2019|Housing, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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With “rent burdens” on the rise, advocates urge changes to state laws

May 1, 2019. This article looks at the problem of rent burdens in the Rochester area in advance of the NYS Assembly hearing on May 10. The article highlighted the disparities "2 out of 5 renters -- and 60% of minorities -- in the Rochester area are rent-burdened. Others upstate cities face similar numbers, but Rochester’s are the highest." A recent study by the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute says nearly half of New York renters are “rent-burdened. Ron Deutsch, the group’s executive director, said housing – not [...]

2021-01-06T10:28:06-05:00May 1st, 2019|FPI in the News, Housing|
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Report: Nearly Half of New York Renting Families Are Rent-Burdened

April 29, 2019. Families should pay no more than 30 percent of their income for rent according to housing advocates. Many public agencies set their support levels to meet this standard. Unfortunately, we find that across New York State, and in some of its major cities, significant shares of families are paying more than 30 percent of their income in rent. This is especially true among families of color. Severe rent burdens can badly reduce families’ ability to pay for other important expenses, such as food or [...]

2021-01-06T10:27:27-05:00April 29th, 2019|Housing, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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Press Release: Families Lack Affordable Housing Statewide, Rent burdens leave families and communities without a firm foundation

For Immediate Release: April 29, 2019 Media Contact: communications@fiscalpolicy.org, 518-786-3156 (Albany, NY) Today the Fiscal Policy Institute released a new report “Nearly Half of New York Renters Are Rent Burdened” (add link) showing a majority of renting families statewide are “rent-burdened” meaning that they pay over the recommended standard of 30% of their income in rent – and for families of color that percentage climbs even higher. FPI cautions that the effects of rent burdens hurt families, local communities, and the state. With the state [...]

2021-03-31T15:28:24-04:00April 29th, 2019|Housing, Press Releases, Social Policy|
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The rent is too high! Rochester housing advocates rally for rent reforms

April 11, 2019. This article covered a demonstration highlighting local support for rent regulation by the Rochester Housing Coalition, members of the City-Wide Tenant Union, the Rochester Homeless Union, VOCAL-NY, House of Mercy, and St. Joseph's House of Hospitality participated in the event, which began at the Liberty Pole and ended at the former Hotel Cadillac, where numerous low-income tenants were evicted last year so building owners DHD Ventures could renovate the property. Legislation has been introduced in Albany that strengthen tenant protections  allow cities across the [...]

2021-01-06T10:24:10-05:00April 12th, 2019|FPI in the News, Housing|
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Automatic Voter Registration: Good for Democracy and Sound Fiscal Sense

February 11, 2019. New York is in many ways thought of as a progressive state, but in terms of the basic democratic function of voting we are far behind most of the country. In voter registration, for instance, New York ranks 46th out of 50 states in share of citizens over 18 years old who are registered to vote. Automatic Voter Registration is a solution being currently considered that would leave far fewer people behind. As with any new proposal, it is worth examining the [...]

2021-01-06T09:33:17-05:00February 11th, 2019|Blog, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy|
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