While economic insecurity is a widespread challenge for an increasing number of Mississippians, women and people of color are disproportionately represented among the economically insecure. This brief highlights how employment equity is essential to the state's future. If full employment was achieved across all gender and racial groups, Mississippi's economy could be $2.5 billion stronger each year. Investing in women and in critical support systems for Mississippi’s workforce will disrupt Mississippi’s current pattern of economic exclusion and place the state on a course to greater prosperity for all. The report is the third of five briefs about employment equity in southern states based on data analysis and modeling of a “full-employment economy” (defined as when everyone who wants a job can find one), which was conducted by the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California as well as policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink and the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Download the report, detailed methodology, and fact sheet.

Media: Analysis: Pay Gap and Cost of Child Care Create Obstacles (The Washington Times, Miami Herald), Study: Full Employment Across Racial, Gender Lines Would Boost Economy (Mississippi Public Broadcasting), What's Holding Mississippi Back? Pay Gap, Child Care Costs, Report Says (Clarion-Ledger), Initiative Looking to Help Low Income Mothers Find Better Jobs (Jackson’s WJTV)

This report presents new data illustrating how the combination of rising rents and stagnant incomes is straining household budgets and stifling opportunity for all but the very wealthy in the nine-county Bay Area, raising serious questions about the sustainability of the region’s economy. The report was developed as part of the Bay Area Equity Atlas partnership between PolicyLink, the San Francisco Foundation, and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California (PERE). Key findings include:

• Between 2000 and 2016, rents increased 24 percent while renter incomes rose just 9 percent.
• There are 480,000 economically insecure renter households in the region that are paying $9,000 too much for housing per year, on average.
• A family of two full-time workers each making $15/hour can only afford market rent in 5 percent of Bay Area neighborhoods.
• 92 percent of these neighborhoods affordable to working-class families are rated "very low opportunity" on a comprehensive index of neighborhood opportunity. 

How are people using this data? The analyses in this report served as the basis for factsheets and maps developed with Working Partnerships, Urban Habitat, and EBASE to support their tenant protection policy campaigns. The Bay Area Economic Council used this data in their report analyzing policy solutions to the housing crisis in Alameda County. KQED Forum host Michael Krasny used it to open up his conversation with housing activist Randy Shaw about his book Generation Priced Out. The Partnership for the Bay's Future used our data to frame the need for investment in housing solutions.

Media mentions: Housing Is Key to Bay Area's Economic Future, Study Finds (Philanthropy News Digest), New Report Examines the Bay Area's Broken Housing Market (Planetizen), World Journal

850,000 of Alabama's working-age adults are economically insecure and struggling to find good jobs: jobs that pay enough to support a family, offer safe working conditions, and provide meaningful opportunities to move up the economic ladder. Advancing Employment Equity in Alabama describes why employment equity — when everyone who wants a job can find one — is critical to Alabama's economic future and offers a policy roadmap to achieve employment equity. It is based on data analysis and modeling of a "full-employment economy" as well as policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink and the Alabama Asset Building Coalition. With full employment for all, Alabama's economy would be $3.9 billion stronger every year. However, to realize these gains, state leaders must be willing to eliminate barriers to employment through efforts such as expanding public transportation options, banning the box on criminal background checks, and supporting the growth of minority- and women-owned business enterprises. This is the second of five briefs about employment equity in southern states co-produced by PolicyLink, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California, and local partners with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Download the report, detailed methodology, and fact sheet "Employment Equity: The Path to a More Competitive Alabama."

This brief describes why employment equity is critical to Georgia’s economic future and lays out a policy roadmap to achieve employment equity. It is based on data analysis and modeling of a “full-employment economy” (defined as when everyone who wants a job can find one), which was conducted by the Program for Environmental and RegionalEquity (PERE) at the University of Southern California as well as policy research and focus groups conducted by PolicyLink and the Partnership for Southern Equity.  See the detailed methodology and fact sheet "Employment Equity: The Path to a More Competitive Georgia."

Renters now represent the majority in the nation’s 100 largest cities, and contribute billions to local economies. Yet renters face a toxic mix of rising rents and stagnant wages, both of which add up to an unprecedented affordability crisis that stymies their ability to contribute to the broader economy and thrive. This analysis, produced in support of the Renter Week of Action occurring September 16-24, reveals what renters and the nation stand to gain from addressing this crisis. We find that nationwide, if renters paid only what was affordable for housing, they would have $124 billion extra to spend in the community every year, or $6,200 per rent-burdened household. Download the national fact sheet and press release.

You can also download fact sheets for the following cities: Alameda, Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Bowling Green (KY), Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Durham, El Paso, Jackson, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynn (MA), Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Reno, Rochester, San Diego, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Seattle, Spokane, Springfield (MA), St. Paul, Washington DC.

Online data tools hold tremendous power to amplify community efforts to advance health equity through policy and systems change. In the spirit of nurturing the growing equity data field and contributing to its evolution, this report, developed in partnership with Ecotrust, offers up a set of 10 design principles for online data tools intended to spur health equity action. The principles include addressing the root causes of health inequities, disaggregating data, and honoring indigenous data sovereignty. For the full list and examples of each principle, download the report here.

In 2015, 78 percent of America’s seniors were white while 49 percent of the nation’s youth were people of color—a phenomenon that we call the racial generation gap. If predominantly white seniors choose not to invest in a more racially diverse young population, this could hamstring the development of the next generation and the nation's economic future. This brief examines the growth of the racial generation gap and its effect on per-child k-12 education spending. We find that every percentage-point increase in the racial generation gap is associated with a decrease in state and local per-child education spending of around 1.5 percent. Given this relationship, it is critical to ensure equitable school funding, invest in youth beyond school, and build multi-generational communities and coalitions for change. Download the brief or data.

Media: Future of America's Baby Boomers Depends on Our Diverse Youth (The Hill), America's 'Racial Generation Gap' Is Starting to Shrink (The Atlantic)

The latest brief from the National Equity Atlas team, Race, Place, and Jobs: Reducing Employment Inequality in America’s Metros, analyzes the relationship between racial and spatial inequality in employment across America’s largest 150 metropolitan regions. We find that in several regions with large racial gaps in employment such as Youngstown and Milwaukee, unemployed workers of color tend to live in a small number of neighborhoods. In these places, neighborhood-targeted workforce development and job access strategies have the potential to increase racial equity and reduce disparities at the regional level, building stronger and more inclusive regional economies. 

Media: Race, Place, and Jobs: Reducing Employment Inequality in America’s Metros (Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity)

How much stronger could the economy be if everyone who wanted a job could find one—regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender? This analysis, produced for the Fed Up campaign for Federal Reserve policies that work for communities most left behind by the recovery, estimates the potential economic gains of full employment for all. Find out what the United States economy—and the economies of the 12 metropolitan regions where each Federal Reserve office is located—could look like with true full employment for all.

Media: This is how protesters plan to take on the Federal Reserve (Wonkblog)

October 22, 2014

How much could the economy benefit from racial inclusion? This research brief estimates the economic boost of racial inclusion for the largest 150 regions, all 50 states, and the nation. We found that the national economy stands to grow $2.1 trillion every year from racial equity, and that every region in the country would gain millions per year – from $287 million in Springfield, Missouri (the lowest potential gain) to $510 billion in Los Angeles (the highest). Download the brief, press release, or data.