Phasing in an increase of the minimum wage to $15 by 2021 would boost the incomes of 29 percent of the Massachusetts workforce. This report analyzes the effect of such an increase across 52 regions in the state, finding that at least 15 percent of workers in every region of Massachusetts would see their wages rise, and in some regions more than 40 percent of wage earners would benefit.
An examination of new Census data on incomes and poverty in 2016. The Massachusetts poverty rate is nearing its pre-recession level, with only seven states presently having lower rates. This brief also examines Supplemental Poverty Measures, which show how much particular programs have reduced the poverty rate.
Examines new Census data on children’s poverty and health coverage for 2016, and trends in Massachusetts and the nation.
This report examines the data on the current availability of paid family and medical leave (PFML) in New England, as well as how mothers are often the primary or sole source of income in a family with children. It looks at other outcomes in states with PFML laws, including the lengths of leaves taken and the effects on wages.
Our annual report with sections analyzing jobs, wages, income, education trends, and the strength of the Massachusetts economy. Among the findings, Massachusetts’ labor force has grown faster than any other state in 2017 – increasing 3.2 percent. Massachusetts has added close to 300,000 jobs since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, representing 9 percent job growth – among the highest rates of job growth in the country over that time. While our economy is growing, job gains are still not translating into strong, broad-based wage growth, though gains have been made over the past two years among low-income workers.
Massachusetts ranks 13th for the economic well-being of children in the national KIDS COUNT rankings of the states, but continued progress could be at risk if Massachusetts loses federal funding that has been crucial to some of Massachusetts’ successes. Cuts to federally-funded poverty reduction programs such as SNAP (“food stamps”), cash assistance (TANF), housing assistance, as well as other cuts proposed in the President’s budget to employment and economic development programs could limit access to income support programs, could limit families’ access to meaningful work, and could create budget challenges at the state level. Together, these circumstances could have a measurable impact on children’s economic well-being.
Over the last 40 years, as productivity has increased steadily and we have created more value per hour worked, that growth has not translated into greater economic security for working people and their families. If the minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth since 1968 it would be over $18 an hour today – twice its current level in Massachusetts.
With the release this week of new American Community Survey (ACS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau, it is clear that working families nationwide and here in Massachusetts made some important gains. While much of this is welcome news, the data also show that poverty rates remain well above pre-recession levels and median incomes remain below pre-recession peaks. Not everyone is sharing fully in the benefits of a growing economy. The ACS data also point the way toward other policy improvements that can lead to broadly shared prosperity.
Children in Massachusetts are better off as a whole than children nationally. And thanks to more than a decade’s worth of health reform in Massachusetts, children here are far more likely to have health insurance than children almost anywhere else in the U.S. Even so, close to one in seven children in Massachusetts lives in poverty, and is at risk for a wide variety of lifelong challenges.
In conjunction with our online resource, the Jobs & Workforce Budget, this brief analyzes state support for workforce development over the past decade, finding that these programs have been cut by about 30 percent since FY 2001 (adjusted for inflation).