EARN in Ohio

Ohio Network publications

  • State of Working Ohio 2019: Realities and Remedies

    In many ways, Americans have been given a gift for the last decade – an economic expansion unprecedented in its length. And many of the indicators of the expansion are quite strong: Unemployment levels are very low, particularly for those with college degrees. The nation continues to add jobs each month, though Ohio cannot consistently […]

  • Refundable tax credits for working families put kids first

    Poverty rates in Ohio remain high despite improvements in the job market. There were still 115,000 more Ohioans living in poverty in 2017 than in the year prior to the last recession.Child poverty is exceedingly high. Cleveland has the highest child poverty in the nation — nearly half of all kids. Cincinnati had the third […]

  • Breaking barriers: Issue 1 could put Ohioans back to work

    The consequences of a criminal conviction extend far beyond the sentence imposed in court. Ohio’s legislature and its administrative bodies have constructed an array of legal restrictions, called collateral sanctions, that can limit access to housing, licensing and jobs. Policy Matters Ohio has found that collateral sanctions limit or bar access to one in four […]

  • Loopholes in a loophole

    Tens of thousands of upper-income Ohioans are qualifying for tax credits that seemingly are limited to those who have much lower incomes. It’s all legal – and it’s probably costing the state millions of dollars a year.

  • Ohio Promise: Equitable free college

    Ohio can make college affordable, significantly increase attainment, and reduce the student debt burden, by enacting a well-targeted, holistic need-based aid program. Policymakers should commit to affordable college by pledging to implement policies to cover the cost of attendance for all moderate-income students at community colleges and public universities. Ohio needs a free-college promise for […]

  • Ohio state and local taxes hit poor and middle-income families the hardest

    Not only does Ohio’s state and local tax system fail to produce enough revenue to properly fund schools, child care, transit and more, it’s upside down. In 2018, low-income Ohioans pay almost twice the share of their income in such taxes as the state’s most affluent do. Ohio ranks 13th worst in the nation in […]

  • Tax abatements cost Ohio schools at least $125 million

    Property tax abatements caused 180 school districts across Ohio to forgo $125.6 million in revenue, according to financial reports the districts issued covering the 2017 fiscal year. With $43.8 million, or a little more than a third of that amount, schools across the state could refill the positions of 662 librarians whose positions were eliminated […]

  • Literature review: Incarceration hurts communities

    In Ohio, many people are in prison either for violating probation in ways that are not themselves a crime, or for possessing or using drugs. Keeping them in prison is expensive and drains resources for other needs like education, health care or job training. It is also extremely costly to Ohio families, Ohio communities, and […]

  • CEO pay vs. worker pay: Often, a 200-to-1 ratio

    For the first time, U.S. companies have reported what their CEOs make compared with typical workers. Data covering 44 of Ohio’s 100 largest employers show that in most cases, CEOs at these companies make more than 200 times what their companies’ typical workers earn in a year.

  • State of working Ohio, 2018: Inequality amid job growth

    Ohio is now in the ninth year of a national economic expansion. At the federal level, $2.3 trillion tax cuts should have the economy broiling. But from our lack of wage growth, you wouldn’t know it. What gives?