State policy can help restore and create good jobs. It can drive investment in training and education. And what happens in Columbus can keep our workforce healthier and happier, help make work pay, and protect worker rights. This new policy brief pulls together our recommendations to help create an Ohio economy that works for everyone.
Looking at trends in the median wage over the past 30 years makes Virginia look like a great place to make a living. But a scan of the entire wage landscape shows big wage gains for top earners, and big losses for workers on the bottom.
Disparate growth in wages has been trending for decades in Virginia, with the top earners getting farther ahead and lower earners falling behind. As a result, Virginia faces record levels of inequality that threaten the state’s economic stability and long-term prosperity because the middle class and low-income households that make up most of the population aren’t earning enough to buy the goods and services the economy is capable of producing.
This report takes a deep dive into the latest Census data to shed light on what’s really happening with workers’ wages in Virginia.
This edition of The State of Working West Virginia is the sixth of its kind. Each year since 2008 this report has examined the numbers and trends that tell the story of how the people who keep our state moving are faring. While each year’s report has a slightly different focus, one constant theme is the need to ask this simple question: what about the people who do the work? Read PDF of report
It is not hard to find stories in the media about the dire effects of West Virginia’s business or judicial climate but much rarer is consideration given to the climate for those who produce and provide the necessary goods and services that make modern life possible. Yet, as a song inspired by struggling West Virginia coal miners a century ago observes, “without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.”
We hear much today about makers, takers and job creators, but this report examines the evidence and makes the case that the basis of a strong economy and a vibrant society is a healthy middle class. It also recommends policies intended to build the middle class. In this case, however, it may be helpful to look at the past as the state prepares to move forward.
The theme of this year’s report is Weirton Steel to Wal-Mart, signifying the vast economic transition that took place in recent decades as good jobs in manufacturing and mining gave way to lower wage, and lower- or no-benefit jobs in the service sector. The intent is neither to praise the one nor condemn the other. Rather, it is to examine the difficult road West Virginia workers have traveled and suggest ways of moving to a brighter future.
Thousands of Minnesotans have little reason to celebrate this Labor Day. Even though the state’s economy is slowly improving, many workers are struggling to climb out of the Great Recession. They are still looking for jobs, working part time, earning less than they did before the recession, or accepting jobs that don’t meet their abilities.
Minnesota’s overall economy is improving, but a closer look tells a disturbing story: many Minnesotans still lack quality jobs that would allow them to support themselves and their families.