News & Stories

Paid time off from work to recover from illness, care for a sick child, or see a doctor is a prerequisite for healthy workers and businesses, public health, family economic security, and even children’s success in school. Yet four in ten workers get no paid sick leave – including many restaurant, grocery, and health care […]

[By John Burbank, Executive Director, EOI – cross-posted from The People’s Pension] A secure and dignified retirement was a symbol of American middle class well-being – a hybrid product of government social insurance, the corporate social contract, and the post-World War II culture and ability to save, as opposed to the current economic reality of […]

Last Friday, three Democrats joined forces with Republicans in the Washington Senate to force through a version of the state budget that cuts education and services for the state’s most vulnerable residents. Much has already been said about passage of a major bill without one word of public testimony. It may now take a special […]

The number of people without health insurance in Washington has climbed over the last decade, even during economic upswings. At the same time, enrollment in Washington’s Basic Health Plan has fallen dramatically, the result of several years of compounding state budget cuts. Today, Basic Health covers only 35,000 residents, and more than 157,000 are on […]

[By Ann O’Leary – cross-posted from Huffington Post] Ever wonder what happens to a worker who becomes disabled for weeks from injuries in a car accident? Or the worker who has a baby but no maternity leave? Or the worker whose parent, suffering from Alzheimer’s, falls and hits his head and can no longer live […]

It has been four years since the Great Recession began taking its toll on Washington’s economy. Today, it’s difficult to be even cautiously optimistic about news of recent growth. Revised employment numbers show nearly 2% growth for Washington’s industries in 2011. Given 2010’s 0.8% growth rate, you could call this is a step in the […]

Cross-posted from the Washington Work and Family Coalition: Tomorrow, the WA Work and Family Coalition will kick off a year-long campaign for expanding Family and Medical Leave Insurance in Washington state – and we need your support! Currently, Washington’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FMLI) program is slated to begin providing benefits to parents of […]

From the Everett Herald: ‘Reform” is usually considered a good thing — but some education advocates talk as if a handful of charter schools and firing teachers based on their students’ test scores are the magic bullets that will “fix” our schools. Their efforts may be well-intentioned, but they don’t actually address the real problems. […]

Every year, retirement seems out of reach for more Americans. According to a 2011 Gallup poll, 66% of Americans say their biggest financial concern is being unable to save enough money to retire – up from 53% in 2011. For the first time since the Great Depression, elderly poverty rates will likely increase and even […]

EOI Policy Director Marilyn Watkins will be on KUOW’s The Conversation today talking about the proposed jobs bill in the Washington legislature, which would create 23,000 jobs in Washington state. The three part plan “includes $251 million for higher-ed projects; $152 million for local government infrastructure; $108 million for energy upgrades at schools and universities; […]

In September 2011, the City of Seattle adopted minimum standards for paid sick and safe leave, covering most people employed inside the city limits. Beginning in September 2012, an estimated 150,000 people will newly have the right to earn time off with pay to attend to their own health needs, care for a sick family […]

Even during economic upswings, the number of Washingtonians without health insurance just keeps climbing as businesses reduce coverage. In 2002, three out of four Washington employers offered health coverage to full-time employees; as of 2010, only just over half were still offering health insurance. While nearly 7 in 10 Washington residents under 65 received employer-sponsored […]

New research shows workers and families are benefiting from California’s paid family leave law – and most employers say it’s had either positive effects or no impact on their business. Under California’s first-in-the-nation paid family leave (PFL) program, enacted in 2004, workers who become new parents or care for an ill family member can take up to 6 […]

While short-term fixes to backfill +$10 billion in budget cuts since 2009 are essential to avoid further damage to Washington’s economy (62% of state spending goes to the private sector), the state faces some long-term structural problems with its tax code that also need to be addressed. For example, consider the source of half of […]

02/14/12 4:08 p.m. Updated to clarify the distinction between the state “general fund” and “operating budget”. Yesterday’s post illustrated how to get comparable state budget numbers by accounting for inflation and population growth. Today I’ll look at three other ways we can put state spending in context. The first is to compare the general fund […]

From the Everett Herald | By John Burbank There’s no other way to say it: Health coverage for new employees is dismal in Washington. Barely half of Washington employers actually offer health coverage to full-time employees. Then there is the traditional waiting period until you qualify, the employee share of the health costs … and […]

02/14/12 4:10 p.m. This post edited to clarify the distinction between the state “general fund” and “operating budget”. Policy issues like marriage equality, paid sick days and the minimum wage have dominated the news from Olympia so far – but with the next state revenue forecast due on Thursday and cutoff dates looming, it’s time […]

An enviable education system seems to have replaced paying its war debts as the most common popular stereotype about Finland today. It seems that scarcely a day goes by without some media attention to the Finnish model, as teams of educators, from the United States and elsewhere, are trekking to Finland to see for themselves […]

As the nation’s population ages – an American turns 65 every 8 seconds – more families are turning to paid caregivers and taking on caregiving responsibilities themselves. The local launch of the national Caring Across Generations movement (which kicked off last summer in Washington, D.C.) took place on Saturday. Nearly 200 people gathered at the […]

The challenge: Climbing tuition + stagnant income = High debt + lost opportunity. The solution: Pay It Forward Systemic underfunding of public higher education is closing the doors on educational opportunity for an increasing number of middle class and low income students. While tuition increases and “sticker shock” create significant financial and psychological barriers to […]

The economic recovery has been different for women than for men, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Women experienced a later start to job loss during the recession and have recovered at a slower pace. National jobs numbers released in January saw women catching up slightly in the last quarter of 2011, although […]

New research shows “family, friend and neighbor” (FFN) childcare providers with higher levels of education or training are more likely to have the skills to provide higher quality care for children, resulting in improved health and safety, and richer learning experiences. Around 6,200 FFN providers care for approximately 13,600 children eligible for child care subsidies […]