WE'VE MOVED TO: www.mobilityagenda.org

Driving to Work - Too Many Economic License Suspensions

Low-wage workers with access to a reliable car are more likely to work, earn more, and work more hours. At The Mobility Agenda, we focus on access to private vehicles to strengthen local communities. You can review some materials on this issue at our Work, Life, Transportation resource page.

Recently, we organized a conversation among experts about driver’s license suspensions for economic reasons. Lack of a driver's license is a barrier to work. In addition, some jobs - especially in construction and health care - require a license of all applicants. For workers without a license, jobs may be inaccessible because a license is a prerequisite, or because a car is the only means of access to a job far from home. The most common reasons for license suspension and revocation are for non-driving offenses, as states have moved to use the license as a means to enforce other goals and raise revenue.

At the recent roundtable, participants shared evidence and research on economic driver's license suspension and revocation, discussed current efforts to address suspension and reinstatement policies. Attendees identified promising practices for replication, discussed barriers to better policy and practice, and developed ideas for future research, services, and policy.

Our website provides lots of background information about license suspension and reinstatement. And soon we will add more material, including video from the event.

Watch the Show - A New Lens on Policy

Why do we think it’s a mistake to establish a national goal to cut poverty in the name of better public policy?

We’ve said it before:

• The U.S. definition of poverty is out of date and flawed.
• Public understanding of the causes of and remedies for poverty hinders adoption of the policy solutions we seek to address it.
• Defining the problem as “poverty” opens the door to a losing scenario in the legislative debate. Media will portray the options as two competing proposals: one we like (comprehensive approach to addressing inequality and economic mobility) and one we don’t (solve poverty with marriage and harder work). We already lost that fight in battles over welfare. Why we would we want to engage in it again?

We present these findings, and more, in a variety of media. Check out the newest version of The Mobility Agenda’s “New Lens on Policy”. We use this powerpoint several times a month (at least) for talks around the country with all kinds of stakeholders – academics, advocates, policymakers, elected officials, students, media, organizers, service providers, etc.

I learn with the audience too. In January, I met with a class of NYU law students and one of them suggested some changes in the visual presentation that I promptly adopted.

Earlier that week, I met with community leaders from across the state of North Carolina. They discussed better ways to present information to decision makers based on the research I’d presented. They decided to illustrate systemic solutions like universal access to health care, retirement options for those without adequate employer-based options, and guaranteed paid sick days. These are three of the ideas identified in our scan on better jobs. It thrilled me to hear that local leaders believe these policy proposals also provide the best economic narratives as alternatives to the traditional sympathy storyline.

View “A New Lens on Policy”.

New Mobility Agenda Report: Public Opinion on Poverty Hasn't Changed in Twenty Years--What Now?

At an event On October 25 with former United Kingdom Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain, The Mobility Agenda hosted a discussion about the UK and US approaches to employment and inequality.

Dr. Matthew Nisbet outlined his new report about low-wage work in America and the political and communications challenges that are barriers to proposed policy solutions that could address issues of poverty, inequality, and mobility.

Beth Shulman author of The Betrayal of Work and co-chair of The Fairness Initiative,, offered a reaction and started the conversation, which made an important contribution to the discussion about developing new policy goals in the
United States.

For more information and to access pictures, documents, and videos from this event, click here.

About The Mobility Agenda

Over 40 million jobs in the United States—about one in three—pay low wages of $11.11 per hour or less, often providing no employment benefits and little flexibility. Even though the U.S. is among the wealthiest nations in the world, workers in these jobs are paid less than workers who hold similar jobs elsewhere.

The last decade has seen some progress on advancing a number of well-known policies to improve job quality by boosting the minimum wage and expanding publicly subsidized employment benefits, like child care and wage subsidies such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. Similar progress has been made to address education and advancement strategies to prepare workers for skilled jobs.

However, when one worker advances out of a low-wage job and another worker takes it, the job does not change. Across the nation, state and local stakeholders are experimenting with a host of new initiatives to improve low-wage jobs. These innovative ideas are far less well known and aren’t commonly incorporated into an anti-poverty agenda.

We aim to identify and develop a more complete understanding of a new and exciting set of policies to improve the jobs in this large and growing segment of our labor market. To achieve this goal, we are doing the following:

• Scanning the nation for new and promising ideas, including academic findings as well as community-based initiatives for improving low-wage work.
• Hosting regional roundtable conversations with academics, organizers, and community leaders in order to develop new ideas and expand their application.
• Publishing a series of policy briefs highlighting innovative strategies, making them available and accessible to policymakers and the public.
• Engaging the media with accurate, balanced information that will help them cover low-wage work and legislative debates affecting employment opportunities and benefits.

Zoom Zoom: Cars and Jobs

You probably didn't know.....about these new resources on our site and others.

The Mobility Agenda team researches and develops policy to improve access to private vehicles for workers in need of reliable, flexible, affordable transportation. To be a fully contributing citizen in this country today, almost everyone – especially workers with children – needs a car. To realize the goal of social inclusion in the U.S., ensuring access to a reliable means of getting to work, to worship, to vote, to shops, to school, etc. is a necessity. In most places, for most people - this means buying (and financing) a car.

We collaborate with car ownership initiatives, pursue means to improve access to credit for car loans, and assist local community initiatives with development of license reinstatement efforts and car programs.

For more information, visit our transportation resource page. These materials outline the correlation between reliable, affordable transportation, and a strong economy.


Also, Opportunity Cars has just opened an online location. Opportunity Cars is a network of more than 150 nonprofit organizations dedicated to increasing private automobile ownership for low-wage working families to support their ability to find and retain quality employment.

On that site, you can search for a nonprofit Opportunity Car program by state, zip code, or city. And anyone who wants to donate a car to an Opportunity Car initiative (for which you are likely to get the full market value of the car as a federal income tax deduction!), can find a place to donate on the new website too.

Finally, American for Fairness in Lending has created a great resource for anyone thinking about buying a car. Check out their information on how to avoid problems in car purchase and financing. What’s surprising? These tips are for everyone – if you are buying from a dealer you need to read it. And if you are getting your financing from a dealer….well, STOP! And go to your credit union or bank to see what they offer first.

Just around the bend: A new film about jobs and cars in the USA. Stay tuned.

Unions and Upward Mobility

The press release for a new report from CEPR and Inclusion on how unionization increases the upward mobility of workers in low-wage jobs:

Washington, DC: Unionization substantially raises wages and benefits even in typically low-wage occupations, according to "Unions and Upward Mobility for Low- Wage Workers ", a report released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Inclusion.

The report, which analyzed 15 of the lowest-paying occupations in the United States, found that unionized workers earned about 16 percent more than their non-union counterparts. Unionized workers in these same industries were also about 25 percentage points more likely to have health insurance or a pension plan.

For workers in these low-wage industries, unionization raised their wages, on average, about $1.75 per hour. In financial terms, the union effect on employer-provided health insurance and pensions was even larger.

"Our findings contradict the widespread belief that low-wage jobs are incapable of providing decent pay and benefits," said John Schmitt, a Senior Economist at the CEPR and one of the study's authors. "When workers have a voice at work, they can dramatically increase their wages and benefits, even in what are traditionally badly paying jobs."

The 15 low-wage occupations together employ just over 15 percent of all US workers and include cafeteria workers, child-care workers, cooks, housekeeping cleaners, home-care aides, janitors, ground maintenance workers, nurses aides and home-health aides, teachers assistants, and security guards.

"Given the prevalence of low-wage jobs without benefits in our labor market, and the likelihood that these sectors will grow rather than decline, some attention to this strategy of improving the U.S. labor market is critical to strengthening our economy and communities," according to Margy Waller, co-director of Inclusion and a co-author of the report.

Made In LA: The Power of Worker Voice in the Workplace

The Mobility Agenda is collaborating with documentary filmmakers and an intermediary, Active Voice, to promote a new film about low-wage work: Made in LA.

Active Voice brings filmmakers, policy advocates, and researchers together on issues of mutual interest. Recently, Inclusion’s Mobility Agenda team hosted a roundtable discussion about the film with Active Voice, just as the documentary began its festival circuit with a showing in DC at the SILVERDOCS festival.

On Tuesday September 4th, Made in LA will air nationwide on the PBS documentary series, POV, as a Labor Day special. We’re encouraging others to watch show for two reasons:

First, Made in L.A. is a story about the low-wage labor market and the critical importance of organizing the workplace to create a space for worker voices, and providing intermediary support and resources (like worker centers and unions) that can improve low-wage job conditions. It also provides a teaching moment for shoppers - if the price is a "steal", someone else probably already "paid" for it in low wages.

Second, at Inclusion and The Mobility Agenda, we are committed to using new media approaches for sharing ideas about issues of economic security and mobility, and successful strategies for system change. We are really impressed with the Active Voice leadership and their approach using documentary film to advance public understanding and policy change. While the film presents the particular experience of immigrant workers in LA, this documentary provides information about the low-wage labor market that is relevant across sectors.

Here is a description from the filmmakers:

MADE IN LA follows the remarkable journey of three Latina immigrants working LA’s garment factories and their struggles for self-empowerment as they wage a three-year battle to bring a major clothing retailer to the negotiating table. In an intimate vérité style, MADE IN LA offers a rare and poignant glimpse into this “other” America, where immigrants in many industries toil long hours for sub-minimum wages, fighting for an opportunity in a new country.

A New Lens on Employment and Housing: Mobility Agenda Roundtable Report

Inclusion's Mobility Agenda and PRRAC recently co-sponsored a roundtable conversation to discuss the research evidence and promising practices for employment and housing mobility with some of the most knowledgeable people in the field.

At the meeting we discussed employment -- economic success and inclusion -- for low-wage households living in dispersed housing, particularly those moving from impacted high-poverty neighborhoods to less impacted communities, and cataloguing promising practices to improve the economic outcomes and social inclusion for employees, employers, and communities.

The meeting was “first of a kind” in a number of ways.

• The participants included an unusual combination of people who don't often sit around the same table: academic researchers, local providers and advocates, and policy analysts from all levels of government.

• Similarly, the presenters came from a few different issue areas -- housing, metropolitan, transportation, economy, labor market, non-profit sector, child care, and civil rights -- sometimes called issue "silos" when leaders develop strategy in isolation.

• We made our first foray into “taping” for online presentation. (We learned a lot….lessons we’ll put to good use at our next event.)

For a great deal of information about the intersection between housing and employment, check out the web page we’ve created. (Research Assistant Sarah Sattelmeyer is “AWESOME”!) On the page you’ll find all of the presentation materials, background reading, and video of much of the event along with a photo gallery.

Inclusion's work on this topic is supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Podcast: A View from Low-Wage America: Understanding Low-Wage Work

In a new podcast produced by the Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work, Margy Waller talks about our new report on the low-wage labor market.

Play
Duration: 6 minutes
File Size: 1.4 MB

First in the Series of Policy Briefs—Hot off the Press: Understanding Low-Wage Work in the United States

Over 40 million jobs in the United States—about 1 in 3—pay low wages ($11.11 per hour or less) and often do not offer employment benefits like health insurance, retirement savings accounts, paid sick days or family leave. These low-wage jobs are replacing jobs that have historically supported a broad middle class. This new report provides a clear and sobering picture of the low-wage labor market through analysis of labor market data, including: downward wage trends over time, poor work conditions, largest occupations, and declining mobility. The authors—labor economist Heather Boushey and Inclusion co-founders Shawn Fremstad, Rachel Gragg, and Margy Waller—used a social inclusion definition of low-wage work that allows for comparison among jobs in the United States.

Report: Understanding Low-Wage Work in the United States
CEPR Press Release