Author Archives: Allyson Fredericksen

Working Families Need Good Jobs – Not Just Any Job

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January jobs report, showing that 257,000 jobs were added last month. Increasing jobs is great news, but only if those jobs allow workers and their families to make ends meet. The numbers have been praised, especially the average hourly wages that “soared 12 cents” to $24.75. While wages didContinue reading “Working Families Need Good Jobs – Not Just Any Job”

Who Earns a Living Wage, and Who Doesn’t?

A living wage: the ability to make ends meet, to provide for necessities as well as to have some left over for savings and miscellaneous expenses. It sounds simple, but for a large number of workers across the country, it is far out of reach. For a staggering percentage of women and people of color,Continue reading “Who Earns a Living Wage, and Who Doesn’t?”

Voter Support Spreading Nationwide for Higher Minimum Wage

Workers deserve to earn enough to support themselves and their families. This concept has helped guide the work of the Alliance for a Just Society for years. And, in the recent midterm elections, voters in five states and two cities showed that this is an issue that is important to people of all backgrounds, inContinue reading “Voter Support Spreading Nationwide for Higher Minimum Wage”

Let’s Truly Celebrate Workers’ Contributions – With a Living Wage

Is Labor Day just a day to celebrate workers’ labor in name, without ensuring that those workers actually benefit? “The basic bargain of America is that no matter who you are, where you come from or what you look like, if you work hard & play by the rules, you can make it, ” saysContinue reading “Let’s Truly Celebrate Workers’ Contributions – With a Living Wage”

Tools to Rescue Underwater Homeowners When Outreach Isn’t Enough

As previously discussed in Alliance reports, the housing crisis is over for some, but there are still millions of homeowners across the country struggling to pay off mortgages that are valued at more than the current worth of their homes. When combined with a sluggish labor market forcing many families to make due on lessContinue reading “Tools to Rescue Underwater Homeowners When Outreach Isn’t Enough”

Tipping Subminimum Wage in Favor of Workers

When you go out to dinner at a restaurant you might ask for salad dressing on the side, whether the carrots are organic, or if the chicken is free range, but do you ever ask the restaurant owner if her employees make a living wage? Waitresses and waiters are the largest group of tipped workersContinue reading “Tipping Subminimum Wage in Favor of Workers”

Critics Overstate Job Loss in CBO Report; Living Wage Lifts Families from Poverty

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released a report on the estimated effects of increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 and indexing it to inflation by 2016. Opponents of the increase have jumped on the report’s (questionable) conclusion that it would cost jobs, while many in favor of increasing the minimum wage have focused on theContinue reading “Critics Overstate Job Loss in CBO Report; Living Wage Lifts Families from Poverty”