EPI Research (Page 19 )

• 

  The Economic Well-Being of Low-Income Working Families

  March 2002

  Who is poor in America? Beginning in the late 1960s, the federal government has tried to answer that question with an annual poverty count. Politicians and pundits alike await the government’s numbers, now published each September. The shape of the September numbers and the interpretive stories accompanying their release frequently affect the election debate in November.
  Although most people recognize that poverty measurement is…

• 

  Measuring Temporary Labor Outsourcing in U.S. Manufacturing

  December 2001

  The growth in temporary help supply (THS) employees is one aspect of the recent general trend toward flexible, market-based work arrangements. Such employees are on the payroll of temporary help agencies but they actually work in other sectors of the economy, e.g., manufacturing.

  There are several reasons for the growth in such flexible work arrangements. First, by reducing the cost and risk of hiring,…

• 

  The Long-Term Effects of Youth Unemployment

  October 2001

  The era of high employment has taken a sharp downward turn. The U.S. economy was cooling rapidly even before terrorism entered the picture. Employee layoffs are now measured in the hundreds of thousands. Many of these employees were entry-level workers just starting their careers. The Labor Department’s statistics on teenage and young adult employment reflect a substantial rise in unemployment rates.

  With unemployment rising…

• 

  The Local Unemployment Crisis

  August 2001

  During 2000, there was a distinct downturn in the economy nationwide, and some communities that were previously lagging fell even further behind. Residents in scores of counties and cities struggled through the year with unemployment rates from 9% to more than 20%. As the nation seems to be headed into recession, and jobs continue to dry up, the areas that are already the worst off…

• 

  The Minimum Wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit: A Decade of Progress

  July 2001
• 

  The Case for a Targeted Living Wage Subsidy

  July 2001

  The living wage movement has been successful in promoting ordinances at the city or county level that would mandate covered businesses to pay wages much higher than the effective state or local minimum wage. At least 60 local governments have adopted some type of living wage mandate legislation. A typical ordinance requires contractors and businesses receiving governmental financial assistance to pay a minimum wage…