The State of Working PA Released

From Keystone Research Center (http://www.keystoneresearch.org):

Last week, the Keystone Research Center released the 2016 edition of our annual report, The State of Working Pennsylvania. The report reviews long-term trends in wages for Pennsylvanians defined by race, ethnicity, gender and education levels and finds wages have declined or fallen for most groups. Some groups have experienced devastating declines—nearly 30 percent for white men without a bachelor’s degree and just over 30 percent for black men without a bachelor’s degree. (Seven out of 10 Pennsylvania men 18-64 to not have a bachelor’s degree.) These two groups have also experienced alarming drops in labor force participation. Women’s wages have fallen less dramatically, but women still earn less than men in every race, ethnic, gender, and education group.

Some voices have sought to tap anger stemming from economic trends to fuel division and resentment. KRC instead urges Pennsylvanians to recognize their shared experience of economic struggle and also to recognize that it stems from misguided public policies driven by those who already have the highest incomes.  The end of the Keystone report outlines an ambitious but practical policy agenda to raise Pennsylvania’s pay. It contrasts this agenda with the policy priorities of Pennsylvania legislators who want to double down on policies to benefit affluent Pennsylvanians.

More resources:

Documents

1. The full report(PDF)
2. An Executive Summary of the Report(PDF)
3. A Summary of the “Agenda to Raise Pennsylvania’s Pay”(PDF)
4. Press Release

Audio Files

5. Press webinar from today walking through the report(video + audio)
6. Mark Price interview on the Rick Smith Show (audio)

Social Media Links

7. Graphic for Facebook(Report General)
8. Graphic for Facebook(Agenda to Raise PA’s Pay)
9. Graphic for Twitter(Report General)
10. Graphic for Twitter(Agenda to Raise PA’s Pay)
11. Facebook Post(Please Share)
12. Tweets to Re-Tweet (Here, Here, Here, Hereand Here

This Week’s PBPC Podcast

This week’s podcast is about the release of The State of Working Pennsylvania 2016. Co-author and KRC Labor Economist and Research Director, Mark Price, joins the podcast to talk about the reality of difficult economic times for many demographic groups here in Pennsylvania, and what kind of policy prescriptions could change a system that is not working for most working families.

You can listen to Episode 20 here.

You can follow and subscribe to all new podcasts in the iTunes store, or on Soundcloud.