What happens to San Diegans whose employers steal their wages? This report describes the experience of working people in San Diego who come forward with complaints of minimum-wage violations and other types of wage theft.
- June 16, 2017
- Staff Report
After trending up for 14 months, the labor force—people working or actively seeking work—decreased slightly in April and more in May. The losses came from the ranks of the employed, leaving the workforce below its 2009 peak by nearly 15,000 workers.
In a well-functioning economy, people who work full time should be able to earn enough to support themselves and their families. That’s important for families and for the overall economy, which relies on consumer spending to keep local businesses thriving. Unfortunately, the pattern of economic growth between the end of the Second World War and the 1970s – where wages generally grew at the same pace as economic productivity – has changed in recent decades. Since the 1970s, the value of wages for most workers has been stagnant while the benefits of economic growth have gone disproportionately to the highest income households.1 In recent years, minimum wage increases have begun to restore modest wage growth for lower wage workers.2 A number of states have now adopted laws to create a $15 minimum wage to spread these gains more widely. This brief discusses commonly asked questions surrounding a $15 minimum wage in Massachusetts.
Publication
In Wisconsin, policy makers seem to increasingly assume that work, and work alone, can provide a decent standard of living. However, working families continue to face a slew of challenges – low wages, inadequate benefits, insufficient hours – generated by the very jobs that are supposed to be the answer. This report highlights the disconnect between state policies and the realities of Wisconsin families working in jobs at or near the poverty line.