New Article: The Alignment of Earnings in Occupations and at U.S. Workplaces Increasingly Exacerbates Earnings Inequality

Nathan Wilmers & Clem Aeppli, The Alignment of Earnings in Occupations and at U.S. Workplaces Increasingly Exacerbates Earnings Inequality, Wash. Cent. for Equitable Growth (Mar. 9, 2021). Introduction below:

A few common explanations dominate the discussion of rising earnings inequality in the United States. Automation and computerization, for example, have augmented many nonroutine white-collar jobs—meaning those jobs can pay more—while replacing more routine jobs. Tech pays off differently depending on your occupation. Another set of explanations of earnings inequality has to do with the types of employers, workplaces, or firms that make up the U.S. economy. Low-paying service-sector employers have multiplied, and manufacturers have deunionized, outsourced, or offshored, while a select few firms in finance, consulting, and tech pay disproportionately high wages. This last set of firms is made up of so-called superstar firms.

In short, where you work matters for earnings inequality, too—it’s not just what you do at work.

New Report: Abuses in Maryland’s Crab Picking Industry Continue to Threaten Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

New Report: Centro De Los Derechos Del Migrante, INC., Abuses in Maryland’s Crab Picking Industry Continue to Threaten Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic,

A followup to 2010’s Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry, this new report reveals how H-2B guestworkers remain in a daily fight for their rights and dignity in an atmosphere still rife with gender-based abuse — even when they have been deemed ‘essential’ workers under the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Article: The Service Economy Meltdown

New Article: Eduardo Porter, The Service Economy Meltdown, N.Y. Times, Sept. 4, 2020.

With 11.5 million jobs lost since February and the government’s monthly report Friday showing a slowdown in hiring, stories like this have become painfully common. When companies dispatched office staff to work remotely from home, cut business trips and canceled business lunches, they also eliminated the jobs cleaning their offices and hotel rooms, driving them around town and serving them meals.

News Coverage of Poverty: About 13m US children are living below the poverty line, rights group reveals

News Coverage of Poverty: Chris McGreal, About 13m US children are living below the poverty line, rights group reveals, The Guardian, Apr. 30, 2019.

News Coverage of Poverty: ‘You can’t win’: the parents working full-time – and struggling to survive

News Coverage of Poverty: Chris McGreal, ‘You can’t win’: the parents working full-time – and struggling to survive, The Guardian, Apr. 30, 2019.

New Op-Ed: Winning the War on Poverty

New Op-Ed: David Brooks, Winning the War on Poverty, NYTimes.com, Apr. 4, 2019.  The Canadians are doing it; we’re not.

New Blog Post: How ‘Heartland Visas’ Could Reduce Geographic Inequality

New Blog Post: Richard Florida, How ‘Heartland Visas’ Could Reduce Geographic Inequality, CityLab.com, Apr. 11, 2019.

New Report: 2019 Tax Season: The Return of the Interest-Bearing Refund Anticipation Loan and Other Perils Faced by Consumers

New Report: Mandy Matlock & Chi Chi Wu, 2019 Tax Season: The Return of the Interest-Bearing Refund Anticipation Loan and Other Perils Faced by Consumers, Nat’l Consumer L. Ctr. (Apr. 2019).

Key findings:

Refund delays are likely exacerbated by the shutdown.  Read more here.

Red flag regarding interest-bearing Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs).  More on RALs.

Private debt collection contractors help the IRS recoup back taxes, but the IRS does not ensure best practices by their contractors, harming the vulnerable.

 

News Coverage of Labor: Democrats want to ban mandatory arbitration at work. Senate Republicans are listening

News Coverage of Labor: Alexia Fernández Campbell, Democrats want to ban mandatory arbitration at work. Senate Republicans are listening, Vox.com, Apr. 3, 2019.

Millions of workers can’t sue their employers, and they probably don’t know it. About 60 million American workers have given up their right to go to court just to earn a paycheck.

New Blog Post: Out of the Shadows

New Blog Post: Lauren Hilgers, Out of the Shadows, NY Times Magazine, Feb. 21, 2019.

Nannies and housecleaners have some of the hardest, least secure jobs in the nation. Now they’re organizing to change that.