ProGov21 Policy Library

Sustainable and Safe Recycling: Protecting Workers Who Protect the Planet

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2015

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Environment & Natural Resources, Public Safety, Health

Recycling workers face serious hazards on the job. For long hours, they work with heavy equipment in dangerous situations and deal with an array of unsafe materials (needles, broken glass, etc) that should not be on the recycling line. As a result of these unsafe conditions, recycling...

“The Forgotten Ones”—The Economic Well-Being of Early Educators During COVID-19

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) California

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

This report provides a closer look at the well-being of California's early educators during the COVID-19 public health crisis, using data collected from the 2020 California Early Care and Education Workforce Study. Key findings show that educators' low wages leave them vulnerable...

Racial Wage Gaps in Early Education Employment

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

Early educators are some of the lowest-paid workers in every state, which especially burdens African American and Hispanic women in this profession. This report analyzes the racial disparities that exist in early education employment. Findings show that African American early educators...

The Work of Art: A Survey of Milwaukee’s Artists and Creatives

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level County

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Wisconsin Policy Forum

Policy Areas Community Development, Economic Justice

The arts are an important sector of Milwaukee's local economy, providing a wide range of educational and cultural opportunities while employing thousands of individuals. Using survey data, this report outlines the characteristics of artists in Milwaukee County, the challenges they...

2010 Austin Ordinance 47 Rest Breaks for Construction Workers

Type Ordinance

Year 2010

Level City or Town

State(s) Texas

Source Austin City Council

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety

This ordinance requires construction workers to receive a rest break every four hours worked. Violators are subject to a civil penalty between $100-500 for each day the violation occurs....

Flying Higher at LAX: Family Healthcare Coverage for Airline Service Workers

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2010

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Health

This report evaluates the impact of Los Angeles' decision to update their Living Wage Ordinance to provide healthcare coverage for airline service workers and their families. Six months after the update, access to family healthcare and passenger safety, service, and security improved....

Raising the Floor Milwaukee: Better Wages and Labor Standards for Low-Wage Workers

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2013

Level City or Town

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Oakland City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines the decline of Milwaukee's economy over the past 30 years and evaluates the city's current challenges including high unemployment, low job quality, extreme racial inequality, and central city economic isolation. The report recommends overcoming these challenges...

Affordable Child Care Roadmap

Type Roadmap

Year 2022

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source ProGov21

Policy Areas Children & Families

In order to expand equitable access to high-quality child care, policy makers must simultaneously increase the supply of affordable child care and support the child care workforce. ProGov21's updated Affordable Child Care Roadmap outlines steps local governments can take to achieve...

We Need Major Reform that Prioritizes the Needs of our Child Care Workforce

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

This infographic argues that subsidized child care is ineffective until the early care and education system is reformed to ensure educators earn fair wages and benefits. Although subsidies have the potential to help low-income families afford child care, tax credits primarily benefit...

From Unlivable Wages to Just Pay for Early Educators

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

Teaching in early care and education (ECE) programs is one of the lowest-paid occupations in the United States. This report summarizes recent research on wage standards and assesses existing initiatives intended to address the problem of low wages in ECE. It concludes that educators...

Essential but Unprotected: App-based Food Couriers in New York City

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town

State(s) New York

Source Los Deliveristas Unidos

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Health, Data & Technology

This report contains the findings from a participatory action research project that examined the working and living conditions of delivery workers engaged by digital platforms (also known as apps) to deliver restaurant food orders to consumers in New York City. Findings show that...

Educator Expectations, Qualifications, and Earnings: Shared Challenges and Divergent Systems in ECE and K-12

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

While there is wide agreement across states and types of schools that K-12 teachers should obtain a bachelor's degree, no consensus exists within the early care and education workforce. This report analyzes how this lack of consensus has led to disparities in minimum qualifications...

Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, State, National

State(s) All States

Source Center for Democracy & Technology

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Data & Technology

Employers use algorithm-driven hiring tools as a fast and efficient way to process job applications in large numbers. Job-seekers are increasingly asked to record videos (that employers mine for facial and vocal cues), complete online tests (that are used to evaluate their optimism...

Preempting Progress in the Heartland: State Lawmakers in the Midwest Prevent Shared Prosperity and Racial, Gender, and Immigrant Justice by Interfering in Local Policymaking

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source EARN

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance

Across the midwest, conservative state lawmakers have increasingly used preemption—a tactic whereby a higher level of government limits or eliminates the power of a lower-level government to regulate an issue—to reduce the policy tools and power available to local lawmakers. This...

2017 Cook County Ordinance 16-4229 Earned Sick Leave

Type Ordinance

Year 2017

Level County

State(s) Illinois

Source Cook County Board

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Health

Under this ordinance, any covered employee who works at least 80 hours for an employer within any 120-day period shall be eligible for earned sick leave. For every 40 hours worked after a covered employee's earned sick leave begins to accrue, they shall accrue one hour of earned sick...

Denver Minimum Wage Ordinance

Type Ordinance

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) Colorado

Source Denver City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice

This ordinance creates a local minimum wage of $12.85 as of January 2020 in the City of Denver, CO, ties the local minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to prevent inflation from eroding wages, and establishes penalties for noncompliance and enforcement strategies....

Connecticut’s Excluded Communities: Key Findings from a COVID-19 Community Impact Survey

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town, State, National

State(s) Connecticut

Source The Center for Popular Democracy

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Housing, Health

Connecticut’s Latinx and immigrant communities are being disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Make the Road Connecticut (MRCT) launched an impact survey to more fully understand key issues facing people of color and immigrants related to employment, housing, health,...

Early Childhood Workforce Index 2020

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education, Public Safety

Despite their important and complex work, early educators have faced low wages and unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report demonstrates that compensation within the early childhood education (ECE) workforce is uneven across states and among different classifications...

Build a Better South: Construction Working Conditions in the Southern U.S.

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level City or Town

State(s) Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Public Safety, Health

As construction activity in the southern United States continues to flourish, concern over workers’ health and safety grows. Economic hardships, few or no opportunities for career advancement, unstable work, injuries, and even death on the job are commonplace for construction workers...

Cities and Jobs: Local Strategies for Improving Job Quality and Access

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2008

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source COWS

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines methods for cities to improve job quality in their communities by using city regulatory power to establish wage floors and other employment standards, regulating domestic-employee placing agencies, using city resources to enforce existing government employment...

Worthy Work, Still Unlivable Wages: The Early Childhood Workforce 25 Years After the National Child Care Staffing Study

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2014

Level City or Town, County, National, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

This report compares the present-day conditions of early child care and education (ECE) workers to their conditions documented in the 1989 National Child Care Staffing Study. In particular, it discusses trends in wages, education, and turnover among early childhood teachers; analyzes...

Rigging the Gig: How Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash’s Ballot Initiative Would Put Corporations Above the Law and Steal Wages, Benefits, and Protections from California Workers

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level State

State(s) California

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

In California, Uber, Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash, and Postmates workers are all classified as employees under California law entitled to the same benefits and protections enjoyed by all California employees. However, these companies are funding a ballot initiative – Proposition 22 or...

Why Do Parents Pay So Much for Child Care When Early Educators Earn So Little?

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2018

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education

Although the average cost of child care rivals college tuition, early educators are among the lowest-paid workers in the country. This infographic outlines the consequences of insufficient wages on early educators' livelihoods....

Early Care and Education Programs During COVID-19: Persistent Inequities and Emerging Challenges

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level State

State(s) California

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education, Finance & Procurement

This report analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the early care and education system using data from the 2020 California Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Study. Findings show that the pandemic worsened existing disparities within the ECE workforce based on program type and funding....

Working From Home: From Invisibility to Decent Work

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source International Labour Organization

Policy Areas Economic Justice

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, large portions of the world’s workforce shifted to homeworking, joining hundreds of millions of other workers who had already been working from home for decades. Given the continued struggle to improve the rights and working conditions...

ProGov21 Policy Library

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