The Future of Work for Low-Income Workers and Families is a policy brief aimed at state policy advocates and policymakers seeking to help low-income workers and their families secure healthy economic livelihoods as the nature of work evolves in the United States. Published by the Working Poor Families Project in December 2015, the brief was written by Vickie Choitz and Maureen Conway.
This brief reviews the major forces shaping the future of work, including changes in labor and employment practices, business models, access to income and benefits, worker rights and voice, education and training, and technology. Across these areas, we are seeing disruptive change in our economy and society resulting in increasing risk and challenges for low-income workers, in particular.
Policymakers – at the local, state, and federal levels – have a critical role to play in addressing the changes that shape work today and in the future. This policy brief focuses on potential state policy reforms and outlines over two dozen state policy ideas. Many of these policy ideas focus on how to strengthen the traditional employer-employee relationship, which is still the dominant employment model for most workers notwithstanding its gradual emaciation over the past decades. Other policy ideas focus on protecting and helping workers outside the traditional employment model thrive.
We invite state policymakers and advocates, as well as all those interested in state policies to improve the future of work for low-income workers, to download The Future of Work for Low-Income Workers and Families.
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