Hard work by our affiliate Citizen Action of New York – along with dozens of other allied organizations and unions, and thousands of workers who took to the streets and shared their personal stories – has paid off in a huge victory. Yesterday, the New York State Wage Board approved gradually raising the minimum wage for NewContinue reading “Fast Food Workers in New York are Getting a Raise!”
Tag Archives: minimum
States Must Do More to Support Workers and Families
“Get a Better Job!” “Get an Education!” “Pull Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps!” Too often when workers struggle to make ends meet, these are the messages they hear. Unfortunately, these messages set unrealistic expectations. Rather than creating an environment that helps ensure working families can succeed, too many states set up systems that that workContinue reading “States Must Do More to Support Workers and Families”
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”
Making Ends Meet: Unaffordable Housing
Last month, we showed just how difficult it is for working parents to afford to pay for child care and cover other living expenses. One of those other major living expenses that all workers must account for is the cost of housing and utilities. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30Continue reading “Making Ends Meet: Unaffordable Housing”
Report: America’s Families Are Out of Balance
Media Advisory Alliance for a Just Society September 29, 2014 Contact: Kathy Mulady kathy@allianceforajustsociety.org (206) 992-8787 America’s Families Are Out of Balance “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 makeContinue reading “Report: America’s Families Are Out of Balance”
Job Gap: Working Families Struggling, Sliding Deeper into Debt
Debt – it’s become so entrenched in our daily lives that it’s almost a given. Debt is often a choice for higher income families, as an investment in the form of a mortgage or as a means to help pay for college. However, lower-income households often end up in debt because their incomes leave themContinue reading “Job Gap: Working Families Struggling, Sliding Deeper into Debt”
Fair Wages Aren’t Enough, Workers Need Hours, Predictability, too
There’s no question that working families across the country are struggling to get by; wages for most income levels have been stagnant or declining over the past decade, while the cost of living has continued to increase. One key to helping working families is increasing wages so that there are more living wage jobs available.Continue reading “Fair Wages Aren’t Enough, Workers Need Hours, Predictability, too”
Everyone Benefits When Workers Earn Living Wages
The South Korea government is taking an interesting approach to stagnating wages. The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance is pushing a policy to offer tax credits to those firms that increase worker pay. This legislation — which, if approved by the South Korean parliament, would go into effect in January — creates a policy incentive forContinue reading “Everyone Benefits When Workers Earn Living Wages”
Entrenched Lobbyists Stirring Raise-the-Wage Opposition
Spring is in the air. That means cherry blossom season in Washington. It also means fly-in time, when the nation’s biggest trade associations hold their annual lobby days. Case in point: the National Restaurant Association (NRA) is hitting town at the end of April. Topping the Restaurant Association’s agenda? Stick a fork in the proposedContinue reading “Entrenched Lobbyists Stirring Raise-the-Wage Opposition”
Living Wage: A New Battle in the War on Poverty
Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson announced a War on Poverty in America, more than 46.5 million people in our country, about one out of every seven, still struggle to get enough to eat or have a place to live. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that for people of color, the poverty rate is evenContinue reading “Living Wage: A New Battle in the War on Poverty”