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.

Ohio Labor Report: Good Masks Bad

play audio
Play

Monday, September 4, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a day dedicated to celebrating the achievements of the American worker, a new report finds persistent inequities in Ohio's labor market.

Policy Matters Ohio's "State of Working Ohio 2017" reveals low unemployment in 2016, and slightly higher wages for the second consecutive year.

But Amy Hanauer, executive director of the think tank, explains those two positives are masking deep divisions.

She points out top earners are bringing in nearly 20 times more than everyone else.

"The average income in the top 1 percent is over $840,000 each year while the rest of us are getting by on $43,000 or $44,000 a year,” she says. “We just have an economy that is increasingly giving its returns only to the wealthiest. "

The report also notes the state's labor force participation rate is still close to a 36-year low, and 2016 was the weakest year for job growth since the end of the recession.

And while pay inequalities have improved, men still earn more than women, and black workers earn less than white workers.

The research puts forth recommendations that Hanauer contends will help even the playing field for workers. They include a higher minimum wage, better access to collective bargaining and deeper investments in childcare and pre-K education.

"If we do that, it will help black workers, it will help white workers,” Hanauer states. “It will help male and female workers. It will help workers in rural Ohio and it will help workers in urban Ohio.

“So, the solutions that we put forth are solutions that will bring us together, that will build a stronger state for all of us."

Hanauer adds investments in infrastructure, green energy and higher education can also help better position Ohio for the future.

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded by the George Gund Foundation.


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

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

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 …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

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 …

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

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

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

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