Project labor agreements (PLAs) are pre-hire agreements that establish terms and conditions of employment for all crafts on large infrastructure projects. The mutual agreements are between a construction owner—such as a contractor, developer, or public body—and a coalition of labor unions supplying skilled workers for the duration of the project. The main purpose of a […]
Current wage equity issues exist in Illinois, especially among women, Black, and Hispanic workers. Policymakers must address gender/racial wage gap issues to enhance the state’s overall social equity and inclusiveness. To help policymakers achieve this goal, this Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) report based on 2018-2022 data from the American Community Survey (ACS) reveals […]
This report draws on the U.S. Census Household Pulse survey to illustrate important diversity in reported CTC-receipt by race, gender, income, family structure, and marital status among households who would be potentially eligible for CTC. We also summarize findings from in-depth interviews and focus groups with parents/caregivers, outreach workers, community organization stakeholders, and tax preparers […]
This article argues that the African American working class can be conceptualized as a subproletariat: a subsection of the working class generally restricted to unstable, unskilled, low-wage, non-union, and “dirty” labor. The restructuring of capital during various periods in the U.S. history always strategically positioned the vast majority of Black people in subproletarian labor. Under […]
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which passed in early 2021, provided critical immediate relief to millions of Americans who have experienced economic hardship due to the economic fallout of the COVID-10 global pandemic. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress has failed to act upon any broader economic and policy changes outlined in President Biden’s Build Back […]
Fair workweek laws, also called predictive scheduling laws, have been implemented in Oregon and seven municipalities—including the City of Chicago—to protect workers from unstable scheduling practices. Implemented in June 2020, Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance covers workers at large employers in seven essential and face-to-face industries: building services, health care, hotels, manufacturing, restaurants, retail trade, and […]
The biomedical imaging career path represents opportunities for middle-class incomes but does not have a population-representative diverse work force either locally or nationally. Workers are stratified by gender and race in the field of biomedical imaging. Our research project examines this field with the aim of better understanding both sides of hiring: how potential employees learn […]
The tax code is a powerful tool used to address a myriad of policy goals. Unfortunately, instead of narrowing income and wealth gaps, various tax provisions continue to reinforce historical gender and racial biases in the tax code. Some advocates argue that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the refundable portion of the Child […]
The Illinois State Broad of Education (ISBE) mandated Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), a performance-based assessment to evaluate teaching readiness, as a part of the licensure requirements since July 2015. The new examination imposed significant monetary ($300-$1,200 per applicant) and time investments, which had a disproportionate effect on minority prospective teacher candidates. The impact of the […]
In 2014, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) adopted a system-wide Student Based Budgeting model for determining individual school budgets. Our report examines the impact of Student Based Budgeting. Our findings show that CPS’ putatively color-blind Student Based Budgeting reproduces racial inequality by concentrating low budget public schools almost exclusively in Chicago’s Black neighborhoods. The clustering of […]