The City of Chicago is experiencing extremely high rates of African-American unemployment compared to the rest of the nation. This report, conducted by researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, seeks to understand the causes of high African-American unemployment in Chicago […]
This report finds that public school teachers in Illinois are highly skilled and are compensated accordingly through competitive salaries. Properly understanding teacher pay is critical to developing an efficient teacher compensation structure. Teachers in Illinois are among the best-educated in the nation and earn appropriate incomes that reward their skill. Illinois’ teachers are highly educated, […]
The exit-voice tradeoff has helped scholars explain lower job satisfaction among union workers compared to nonunion workers since. Scholarship has further extended the exit-voice tradeoff to within-union samples by examining job satisfaction’s relationship to union participation instead of between union and nonunion workers. But how exactly does the exit-voice tradeoff apply to moderately or highly-satisfied […]
Higher earnings for Illinois workers resulting from a minimum wage increase stand to have impacts on their ability to sustain families and cover expenses. The greatest impact, however, might be in housing affordability. Housing costs, whether in the form of rent or mortgage payments and maintenance costs, make up the largest monthly expense for most […]
The importance of the construction trades and apprenticeship programs as a unique and unparalleled pathway into middle class job opportunities for non-college graduates, inspired the Project for Middle Class Renewal in the Labor Education Program (LEP) at the University of Illinois’ School of Labor and Employment Relations to invite building trades’ apprenticeship programs to participate […]
Researchers have investigated the reasons why people pursue a career in the public sector. A compelling case has been made that individuals who pursue careers in the public sector are more highly motivated by intrinsic factors such as “work that is important” and work that “provides a feeling of accomplishment.” This report describes findings from […]
Almost one half of all public sector workers are unionized in Minnesota and over half of all public sector workers are unionized in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Meanwhile, slightly more than one-third of all public sector workers are unionized across the nation. In comparison, fewer than one-in-ten (8.0 percent) Minnesotans who work in the […]
Despite the presence of registered apprenticeships in many Illinois industries, especially construction, little policy research has been conducted to analyze their economic and social impacts. This study, authored jointly by the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, investigates the effect of registered apprenticeship […]
A state prevailing wage law supports construction workers employed on public infrastructure projects. The policy requires that workers employed on projects funded by taxpayer dollars are compensated according to hourly wage and benefits rates normally paid on similar private and public projects in an area. This report is an evaluation of contract thresholds for project […]
This report, conducted by researchers at the Midwest Economic Policy Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Extension School for Workers, and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign analyzes the course of unionization in Wisconsin, in the Milwaukee metropolitan statistical area (MSA), and in the United States from 2006 to 2015. […]