Fall 2014 Latinomics: Workers Win at the Ballot Box; Poverty, Unbanked, and Unemployment Rates Decline; and Federal Contractor Employees to Make $10.10
Cutting across partisan divides, voters across America backed minimum wage increases. This fall, we saw the Latino unemployment rate hit the lowest level since February 2008, declines in the Latino poverty rate, and victory for 200,000 employees of federal contractors who will now make a minimum wage of $10.10.
While the Latino poverty and unemployment rates still remain disproportionately high and we saw setbacks as the Labor Department delayed implementing the minimum wage for home care workers, NCLR won’t stop fighting for the rights we all deserve.
Thanks for all your support this fall, and read on to see the latest in Latinomics!
Workers Win Big in Midterm Elections
Despite headlines focused on Congress, American workers won big this midterm election cycle with crucial minimum wage and paid sick leave proposals passing across America. In Arkansas, Alaska, Nebraska, Illinois, and South Dakota, voters backed boosting the minimum wage statewide, while voters in numerous counties and cities in Wisconsin backed increases. In California, the cities of Eureka, Oakland, and San Francisco all voted to raise the wage, with San Francisco voting for the wage to rise to $15 per hour by 2018.
In Massachusetts; Oakland, California; and Montclair and Trenton, New Jersey, voters backed paid sick days for workers, joining a growing number of states and localities with these essential protections.
If you want to see where the minimum wage stands across America, check out FiveThirtyEight’s explainer.
$10.10 for 200,000 Workers: Employees of Federal Contractors Get Minimum Wage Hike
Flexing his executive authority, President Obama raised the minimum wage for about 200,000 employees of federal contractors, requiring firms doing business with the federal government to pay all employees at least $10.10 an hour. Because almost 20% of these workers make less than poverty wages, the wage hike will play a critical role in lifting struggling families out of poverty.
Home Care Workers Denied Fair Wages: Labor Department Delays Implementing Protections
Despite being the fastest-growing job in America, home care work has been excluded from the minimum wage for four decades and remains so today. In September, the Labor Department announced it would delay implementing the minimum wage and crucial protections for home care workers until July of 2015.
More than 20% of America’s two million home care workers are Latino, and these hardworking members of our community cannot afford to wait another day for basic protections made available to nearly all other workers. Most home care workers are the breadwinners in their families, and 70% of Latinos reported recently they are not earning enough to meet their basic needs.
It’s time for the Department of Labor to give home care workers the protections they deserve. Read our entire statement!
Latino Poverty and Unbanked Rates Decline, Household Financial Anxiety Stays High
In September, NCLR released a new analysis of newly released Census Bureau data on poverty, which showed Latinos’ hard work is translating into higher income and lower poverty. While Latinos still suffered from an alarmingly high poverty rate of 23.5% in 2013, there were nearly one million fewer Latinos, including 500,000 fewer Latino kids, living in poverty compared to the previous year.
In October, the FDIC released its findings on the under- and unbanked population, which showed the percentage of Latinos living outside the financial mainstream declined slightly to 7.7% in 2013, down from 8.2% in 2011. Complementing NCLR’s Banking in Color report, the new data shows too many Latinos are relying on costly nontraditional financial products.
While we welcome the better news, much work remains to be done. The Latino poverty rate is still nearly twice as high as the national rate, and even with the improvement, it is still higher than prior to the recession. The rate of unbanked Latinos is double that of the general population, meaning far too many Latinos are being left out of the financial mainstream.
Read our press statement on poverty and blog post on unbanked Latinos!
Latino Unemployment Falls to 6.8%, Lowest Since February 2008
Falling to the lowest level since May 2008, the Latino unemployment rate dropped to 6.8% in October, following its decrease to 7.5% in August and 6.9% in September. While a single percentage point disparity remains between the overall unemployment rate and the Latino rate, the trend indicates good news for Latino workers in today’s economy.
Gains in August, September, and October were likely driven by employment increases in industries where Latinos disproportionately work, including food services and restaurants, administrative and waste services, and the construction sector. In August, we took a closer look at Latino millennials’ attitudes toward the economy.
Read the August, September, and October Monthly Latino Employment Reports!
If you don’t receive NCLR’s Monthly Latino Employment Report, sign up today!
American Dream Deferred: Latinos Priced out of Urban Rent 
While a majority of Latinos believe homeownership is part of the American Dream, high housing costs, low incomes, and a lack of mortgage credit are locking them out of achieving it.
NCLR analyzed data on the 10 most expensive cities to rent in America to highlight how Latino families are managing housing costs. On average, households devote 44% of income to rent alone in these cities, including heavily Latino places like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami.
Read NCLR’s rental affordability analysis!
Latina Equal Pay Day: Closing the Pay Gap and Ending the $2.13 Tipped Minimum Wage
On October 8, Latina Equal Pay Day, the average Latina worker’s wages finally catch up to the average white man’s from the previous year. Latinas earn just $0.56 for every dollar earned by white men, and this October NCLR highlighted the persistence of pay discrimination in the workplace.
In the food service industry, thousands of restaurant servers are stuck earning the shockingly low federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 an hour. Unlike the standard minimum wage of $7.25, the tipped minimum wage has remained unchanged for 23 years, forcing workers to rely on tips for the majority of their income.
While employers are required to make up the difference when their pay falls below $7.25 an hour, violating this rule is commonplace.
Read our blogs on ending the tipped minimum wage and Latina Equal Pay Day!
Labor Day Poll: Millennial Latinos Want Better Career Opportunities, but Face High Unemployment
What do young Latinos think about the economy? On Labor Day weekend, NCLR conducted a mobile poll of millennial Latinos, asking them if they’d rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love than make $100,000 at a job they find boring. More than 60% said they’d rather make less at a job they love.
At the same time, 85% of millennial Latinos surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that supported raising the minimum wage.
Young Latinos are still struggling more than other groups to find work, and our Labor Day Spotlight highlights some of the reasons why.
Our Latest
- Unbanked Households Decline, More Work Left to Do
- Economic Rights Are Essential to the Pursuit of Happiness
- Marking Latina Equal Pay Day
- For Latinos in Large Cities, High Rent and Stagnant Income Mean the American Dream is Slipping Away
- A Minimum Wage Hike is Needed to Help Close the Income Gap
- Minimum Wage Increase Coming Soon to Federal Contractor Employees
- Working for Tech Giants: Latinos Can’t Get a Break!
- Latino Poverty Rates in Decline, Household Financial Anxiety Remains High
- Ending the $2.13/Hour Tipped Minimum Wage Will Narrow the Latino Pay Gap
- Latino Millennials’ Attitudes Toward the Job Market
- Workers Deserve Better: It’s Time for a Fair Workweek for All
- Labor Day Spotlight: Young Latinos Want Better Career Opportunities, but Face High Unemployment
Latinomics is brought to you by NCLR’s Wealth-Building Policy Project and Economic and Employment Policy Project