The Status of Working Families is a biennial report that analyzes the general state of Indiana’s economy as it relates to working families by examining data on poverty, labor force and wages, followed by working-family friendly policy options. This year, our report offers access to the data, online and interactively, for users who wish to share or further explore our findings. This analysis guides our research and subsequent policy recommendations that follow each chapter. Measuring the economic health of Hoosier families is a central function of the Institute’s mission: to research and promote public policy that provides Hoosier families the ability to achieve and maintain economic self-sufficiency.
Vermont’s economy has begun to recover, following the official end of the Great Recession in June 2009. Worker productivity is up. The state’s economy, as measured by the gross state product, was one of the fastest growing in New England between 2009 and 2013. But many Vermonters have seen little evidence of this recovery.
This report is the seventh in an annual series that examines the state of West Virginia’s economy as it impacts working people. Each year, we examine the latest available data on employment, income, productivity and job quality as well as the immediate economic challenges and opportunities. Read PDF of report.
The themes have varied from year to year with changes in the economy but the basic goal remains the same: to look at what can sometimes seem to be dreary numbers and indicators from the point of view of those who actually do the work.
It is very common to find reports in the media or comments from political leaders about the state’s business climate; it is all too seldom that the discussion turns to the climate for working people and their families. It is our belief that the economy exists for people and not people for the economy, and that a strong economy requires a growing middle class..
In this report, as in those of the past, we will attempt to identify short- and long-term trends and to find the story behind the numbers. Each year, we also recommend policy changes to improve conditions for working people, some of which have actually come to pass.
To use a nautical metaphor for a landlocked state, West Virginia’s economy can at times resemble a sailboat or a motorboat. In the former case, it is driven by external factors, such as the national and global economy. But, like a motorboat, our economy can also be driven by internal factors, such as its historic dependence on natural resource extraction.
In addition to external or internal market factors, the decisions of policymakers can have a huge impact on the economy and the quality of life for working families. Fortunately, in a democracy, this is something which ordinary working people can influence—and indeed have recently done so with some success.
Each year at Labor Day, we survey the “State of Working Iowa.” This annual report card examines trends in wages, job growth, and job quality in Iowa. This fall, when the Census Bureau updates its numbers on incomes and health insurance coverage, we will offer a follow-up report on those trends — and their meaning for Iowa’s working families. As in the past, we have devoted close attention through the year (see our monthly “Iowa JobWatch” release) to trends in nonfarm employment because it is an important index of economic progress and particularly of the pace of recovery from the Great Recession. Importantly as well to a public grasp of the meaning of this measure, we have had to deal with manipulation of these numbers by the Governor’s office, which minimizes losses and exaggerates gains.
For these reasons, we turn our Labor Day focus on wages in Iowa. What are the long-term trends? What was the impact of the recession (and recovery) on the paychecks of working Iowans? Do age, education, or gender determine whether you gained or lost ground? What are the causes of persistent wage stagnation, and growing wage inequality?