News & Stories

Many of you who will read this post grew up with the same understanding of America as me: if you work hard and play fair, you will succeed. Or something like that. But the idea that hard-work leads economic prosperity and independence is slowly fading. A recent report by the Working Poor Families Project exemplifies […]

Family Issues Many American mothers cannot afford to take unpaid family leave. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been fighting hard for women’s votes in these US presidential elections. McCain even selected Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for his ticket. And Obama has made a point of addressing issues that are crucial to women […]

The projected budget shortfall Washington is now facing presents a unique opportunity for state policymakers to write a budget that stimulates broad economic growth by making our tax system fairer and more in sync with our 21st century economy. Steady investment in the public structures of everyday life – roads, courts, safety inspectors, schools and […]

Reprinted from the Everett Herald: The candidates in our acrimonious governor’s race need to take a lesson from the 1930s. Economists are calling this the biggest crisis since the Great Depression. Those were tough times. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, unemployment was 25 percent. The grim black and white photos of Hoovervilles and Dust […]

Apparently when it applies to increases in people’s wages – or so it would seem when reading this post on the Association of Washington Business blog. On the heels of a Department of Labor & Industries announcement that Washington’s minimum wage will rise 48 cents per hour (to $8.55) in 2009, the AWB’s Kris Tefft […]

Washington’s second gubernatorial debate at an Association of Washington Business (AWB) event in Blaine, WA focused heavily on economic issues. One thing caught our attention: Republican candidate Dino Rossi’s support for lowering the state’s minimum wage, currently at $8.07/hour. His reasoning? “Minimum wage was not meant to be a family wage; it’s meant to be […]

The Governor’s announcement yesterday that she is suspending development of the computer system for Washington’s Family Leave Insurance (FLI) program is extremely disappointing. This time of economic distress is precisely when our state’s struggling families need programs like this the most. FLI was slated to begin in October 2009, assuring all new parents in our […]

Henry Paulson is at ground zero of the current debate over a $700 billion bailout proposal for Wall Street. But it’s interesting to note that not long ago, Paulson was callling Social Security “financially unsustainable” after releasing a report detailing the program’s so-called funding shortfalls. Paulson’s report might have been good fodder for those wishing […]

The [Not So] Golden Years: Shrinking investments, increasing costs and lower home values have led many seniors to rethink their retirement plan. Making Work Pay Enough: A recent report from the Tax Policy Center looks at the more than one-third of America’s families with children who are ‘low income’, meaning their incomes fall below twice […]

I remember my son’s first day of kindergarten. It was 18 years ago, but I still can picture that circle of little faces around the big classroom table, with anxious parents hovering behind. And I remember my dismay upon realizing that even I, with no training, could pick out the kids in that circle who […]

EOI’s latest analysis of Washington’s economy reveals that strong job growth over the past three years wasn’t enough for many workers to dig out of the economic hole created by Washington’s last recession. Having failed to regain income levels and workplace benefits they once enjoyed in 2000, most middle-income families are ill-prepared to face another […]

Washington’s economic experience mirrors that of most of the country in the growth of inequality over the last economic expansion. Over the past decade, the wealthiest households have enjoyed rising incomes, while moderate- and low-income families have barely kept pace with inflation or lost ground. Job growth has been strong in some high-income fields, and […]

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are making big political strides, but in terms of paycheck economics, earnings for women still lag far behind men’s. The good news for women is that hourly earnings have trended up faster than inflation, and they are approaching parity in numbers of jobs. But a detailed look at employment data […]

My friend Becky’s house hasn’t sold. She put her house on the market months ago, priced to sell, and is still waiting for the first offer. It’s a lovely home in a pleasant neighborhood, conveniently located to regional job centers. And still it sits empty. What a difference a year makes.

No rung ladder: Some workfare policies are blocking access to a proven way out of poverty – higher education. Lucky 13: New plan aims to prepare Washington students for the 21st century by publicly funding a 13th year of education or training.

Highlights from the most recent US Census data on King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, from Puget Sound Sage: Despite substantial job growth and low unemployment in the three-county Puget Sound region1 between 2006 and 2007, median household income remained flat or fell slightly, after adjusting for inflation. Inflation eroded median earnings gains for male and […]

A proposed ballot issue would make Ohio the first state in the nation to mandate that businesses give workers seven paid sick days a year. Voter support for the idea is strong: In a poll released in June, Quinnipiac University found that 71 percent of Ohio voters support the sick leave proposal, while 25 percent […]