skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study Shows Higher Wages, EITC Expansion Would Take Bite Out of Crime

play audio
Play

Monday, August 15, 2016   

INDIANAPOLIS – Over the weekend, workers calling for a $15 hourly minimum wage held a national march and rally in Virginia – and research is showing a higher wage could have benefits that reach far beyond families' monthly budgets.

The idea that increasing the minimum wage can reduce crime is getting bipartisan support.

A report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors finds raising the federal minimum wage would lead to reductions in crime.

Rebecca Vallas, managing director of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, says expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to include adults without dependents could cut crime rates even further.

"Policies that raise wages, whether raising the minimum wage or expanding the EITC – ideally both, because those two policies go hand in hand – can both prevent recidivism and lower the rate of first-time offenses," she points out.

Indiana's minimum wage is the same as the federal rate, $7.25 an hour, and has not gone up in over seven years.

The Center for American Progress says an estimated 70 million to 100 million Americans have criminal records, and nearly half of all children have a parent with a criminal record.

Vallas says it's simple math – if people make enough to make ends meet, they're less likely to take desperate measures that land them in jail, with lifelong consequences.

"That really means that now, research shows that a comprehensive criminal justice reform agenda must not only include addressing barriers to employment for workers with criminal records, it should also include policies to ensure that jobs pay a fair, living wage," she states.

Vallas adds in states where the minimum wage is $7.25, one in every 102 adults was in jail or prison in 2013, compared to one in 137 in higher-wage states.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021