Reports & Articles
Note: We will update this regularly, but resources and policies are expanding rapidly to include more people and provide more assistance. There may be ones out there we haven’t found yet. Last update April 16. As concerns around the novel coronavirus stall the economy, local government and service organizations are working to protect residents who can’t pay […]
Paid Sick Days Washington State, Seattle, and Tacoma all require employers to provide paid sick leave. You are entitled to use sick days for: your own illness or preventative care, a sick family member, to deal with the consequences of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, if your place of work or child’s school or […]
Washington’s unemployment rate, like the nation’s, continues to improve, hitting a historic low this month — but wage growth for most workers is still lagging. Why isn’t a more competitive job market helping boost workers’ ? In the past, reaching 4 percent unemployment pushed hourly earnings for non-managers up by an average 4.3 percent over […]
For a PDF, click here. High rates of maternal mortality and pregnancy-related health complications are a national crisis reflecting large racial disparities. In Washington State, Native American and Latina women are particularly likely to die of pregnancy-related causes. Other health complications are also common in the months following childbirth. One common sense step Washington can […]
Early Learning is critical to child development, family wellbeing, and community economic prosperity. Washington State has invested in building a supervisory and incentive structure for early learning through Early Achievers, including the Quality Rating and Improvement System.[1] However, wages for early learning teachers and caregivers hover near or in poverty. The failure to remedy wage […]
For a PDF, click here. Washington State is facing a health care affordability crisis. Out-of-pocket health care costs are rising, and the uninsurance rate in Washington is increasing again, as too many people cannot afford their premiums.[1] HB 2821 will improve health care affordability for those who need it most by replacing a recently repealed […]
For a PDF, click here. Executive Summary Washington’s booming industries have led to a job market that requires a highly educated and trained workforce. However, Washingtonian high-school graduates from a variety of backgrounds have faced barriers in accessing higher education, and thus have experienced little of the benefits of our economic growth. This brief demonstrates […]
The current economic expansion, now the longest in post-war history, certainly looks rosy on the surface: since 2008, Washington has added nearly 479,000 nonfarm jobs, and average hourly wages have climbed 22.6 percent after adjusting for inflation.[1] But while more people have jobs compared to a decade ago, wage gains have largely accrued to a […]
Higher costs for rent or home ownership, health care, child care and higher education have far outpaced the (very) modest increases in a typical family’s income over the past decade. Housing Housing has become far less affordable in Washington, as median rental costs and home prices continue to exceed increases in median family income. After […]
Social Security improves the economic security of more than 1.3 million Washington residents and their families, and contributes significantly to economic stability and growth across the state. While it is currently on sound fiscal footing, federal lawmakers should act now to remove Social Security’s cap on taxable earnings, raise benefits and make other improvements to […]
For a PDF, click here. Introduction Washington State is preparing to implement what will be the nation’s fifth comprehensive paid family and medical leave program (PFML). Beginning January 1, 2020, most workers in the state will be able to take up to 12 weeks – and in some cases up to 18 weeks – of […]
For a PDF, click here. Introduction In January 2020, Washington will become the fifth state in the U.S. to provide a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program (PFML). Workers will be able to take up to 12 weeks, and in some cases up to 18 weeks, of paid leave in a year to care […]
For a PDF, click here. During the run-up to the 2020 elections, several proposals have been developed for enhancing health-care access and affordability. Some presidential candidates are discussing “Medicare for All.” Others are taking a more generic position for universal health coverage. In our state, the Legislature passed into law a measure to develop a […]
For a PDF, click here. Executive Summary Students throughout the United States are facing immense barriers to higher education. The increasing costs of attending college coupled with decades of decreasing public support have pushed students to take on large loans to finance higher education. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category, […]
Declining unionization, and race- and gender-based discrimination are increasing economic disparities in the state. Declining Unionization While no single factor is entirely responsible for the growth in inequality, declining unionization has been a contributing influence.[8] Following the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, the spread of collective bargaining led to decades of […]
The Great Recession took a massive toll on the state’s job market. Today, more than a decade after the onset of the Great Recession, statewide unemployment in Washington is finally below pre-recession levels. But the state unemployment rate is just one way of looking at employment. Let’s dig in to explore a little deeper. In […]
In 1980, a student could earn enough working just one summer (seven weeks) at minimum wage to cover tuition at any of the state’s 4-year colleges or universities — and just three weeks to pay for community or technical college — because state funding for higher education kept costs affordable. Today, it would take six […]
Over the past three decades, Washington’s workforce has become increasingly older, more diverse, and more likely to have a four-year college degree. Age The share of younger people (age 16-24) in the workforce is less than half what it was in 1979, while the share of older workers (age 55+) has nearly doubled. Two big […]
This chart from the Washington Department of Revenue shows the incredible amounts of tax benefits Washington State gives to major corporations. In 2017, Washington gave $56 million to Amazon. Since then, it has threatened the Seattle City Council that it would stop construction in the city and abandon office space if it passed a head […]
Washington faces a crisis of low-income elderly residents in the coming decades, with many residents at risk of living out their years with a diminished quality of life and more reliant on the public safety net. It doesn’t have to be this way: states have long pioneered innovative retirement security policies for their residents. Washington […]
My name is John Burbank. I am the Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute and a member of the Compensation Task Force on Early Learning that the Legislature established two years ago. I would like to thank the House sponsors of HB 1344 for their foresight in addressing the foundations for high quality and […]
For a printable fact sheet, click here. As the Legislature confronts the need to fully fund public services, our elected public officials should be looking at the “Swiss cheese” nature of Washington’s tax code and focusing on past tax exemptions. One such giveaway excuses precious metal dealers from paying sales or B&O taxes.[1] This includes […]
How do you measure what makes a living wage? Every researcher has a different tack. This chart compiles the metrics created by five different research organizations with seven different measurements. All of them used tax information, housing costs, food costs, and a variety of public available data to derive their metrics. Some of them are […]
For a PDF, click here. Washington’s estate tax is one of the few progressive revenue sources in our regressive state tax system. Less than 1 percent of residents who pass away are wealthy enough for their estates to be taxed. We can capitalize on recent reductions in the federal estate tax and raise $300 million […]
While the gender pay gap has declined since 1979, the state has not made any significant or lasting progress in closing the gap since the late 1990’s. In Washington, a typical woman (or one earning median wage) is paid 22 cents less per dollar paid to a typical man. Assuming 40 hours per week, 52 […]
For a PDF of detailed methodology and survey results, click here. Ensuring that every child in Washington State has access to in high-quality early childhood education is critical to providing educational opportunity for all children, building family economic security, and promoting a vibrant economy. But early-education professionals in Washington State are earning barely more than […]
For a PDF of this report, click here. Executive Summary This report is part of a research project focusing on the challenges facing child care providers and the barriers to increasing and maintaining the quality of early learning programs in Washington State. It contains the findings from case studies of fifteen childcare providers located in […]
Sixty-eight years ago, Washington State passed the Law Against Discrimination, deciding that “discrimination against any of its inhabitants because of race, creed, color or national origin are a matter of state concern, that such discrimination threatens not only the rights and proper privileges of its inhabitants but menaces the institutions and foundation of a free […]
For a PDF of this document, click here. Social Security benefits are crucial to the economic security of more than 1.3 million Washington residents and their families, and contribute significantly to the economic stability of every region of the state. Yet some members of Congress are threatening once again to cut Social Security to pay […]
For a PDF of this report, click here. Introduction Long hours of work, inadequate pay, and lack of paid leave undermine health, economic security, and opportunity for working people and their families. Federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws are intended to assure that workers receive reasonable compensation for their work and that they […]