NJPP REPORT: Labor Day Snapshot: How New Jersey Can Honor Workers and Improve Economic Security
REPORT: Labor Day Snapshot: How New Jersey Can Honor Workers and Improve Economic Security
For Immediate Release
Contact: Louis Di Paolo (NJPP): 201-417-5049 (cell) or dipaolo@njpp.org
September 7, 2020 – Workers across New Jersey face unique challenges to their health, safety, and economic security due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges are compounded by stagnant wages and a lack of worker protections, according to a new report by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP), as economic insecurity and income inequality were growing problems even before the pandemic hit.
“Essential workers take risks every day to keep New Jersey running, and they need our support,” said Vineeta Kapahi, NJPP Policy Analyst and author of the report. “Workers should not have to choose between feeding their families and engaging in unsafe work that jeopardizes their health, but that is precisely the position many workers are put in due to low wages and a lack of strong workplace protections. In these challenging times, it is especially important that workers’ rights are not only protected but expanded, and that there is a strong safety net for those who lose income.”
The report, Labor Day Snapshot: How New Jersey Can Honor Workers and Improve Economic Security, finds that wage growth remains slow and uneven, as hourly wages have not kept pace with productivity. Between 1979 and 2016, productivity in New Jersey grew 80.4 percent, while median hourly compensation grew just 25.8 percent. Further, wage growth for the state’s highest earners has far outpaced that of middle- and low-income workers.
Wages for workers at the 10th percentile — those who earn $10.60 an hour — have only increased by 7 percent (68 cents) in total since 1979. Median-wage workers in New Jersey have fared only slightly better, with a moderate hourly wage increase of 20 percent ($3.72) since 1979. In contrast, the hourly wages of high wage workers in the 90th percentile have risen much more rapidly, increasing 62 percent ($22.92) between 1979 and 2019.
The report also finds that the racial disparities in wages have steadily increased over the last four decades. In 2019, the median hourly wage among white workers in New Jersey was $25.85, approximately 1.5 times the median wage among Black ($17.32) and Latinx workers ($17.01). The hourly median wage among Black workers has only increased 6 percent since 1979, and for Latinx workers, just 17 percent. Wages for white workers rose much faster, with a 37 percent increase in median hourly wage during the same period. Workers of color also experience the highest unemployment rates in New Jersey.
Workers of color not only face unique barriers to economic security, but they are also disproportionately represented among frontline workers who risk their health and safety everyday during the pandemic. Black workers, for example, make up 12.4 percent of New Jersey’s workforce but represent 19.5 percent of all frontline workers.
The report concludes with a set of recommendations for state lawmakers to expand worker protections and improve economic security, both during and beyond the current crisis. Recommendations include: expanding paid sick leave; creating new avenues to addressing violations of health and safety laws; clarifying workers’ right to receive unemployment if leaving a job due to health and safety concerns; and strengthening social safety net programs that support economic security for low wage workers and those who have lost employment.
Read the full report here:
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