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New report prescribes swift and broad solutions for Latino working families
http://www.aflcio.org/content/download/98601/2662151/file/LatinoReport.pdf
(Washington, DC, August 29, 2013) – A new report released in honor of Labor Day by the AFL-CIO shows that four years after the Great Recession officially ended, Latino working families continue to be disproportionally affected by the weak economic recovery. Across the country, Latino workers are struggling with higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, lower wages, and a dire financial outlook for retirement.
The report titled “The elusive American Dream: Lower wages, high unemployment and an uncertain retirement for Latinos,” compiles economic data relevant to Latinos from several recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) studies to show that unemployment and underemployment rates were higher, wages were lower and financial security for seniors was lower among Latino and African American workers. These reports offer both macro- and micro-level solutions to these inequalities.
According to data compiled in this report, the nationwide unemployment rate for Latinos continues to be higher than for whites and is projected to remain “essentially” the same at the end of this year. Furthermore, an August economic snapshot found that among employed Latinos and African-Americans, roughly one in five are underemployed.
Lower wages continue to hold back Latino working families. Between 2007 and 2012, both Latino and Latina full-time workers – defined as those working 35 or more hours per week – earned less in wages than their white and African American counterparts.
Additionally, Latinos and African Americans are more likely than whites to spend retirement mired in poverty, a June EPI report found. 70.1 percent of Latinos, age 65 and older, have incomes less than two times the supplemental poverty threshold. In comparison, only 43.8 percent of whites are economically vulnerable.
“Latino workers have been especially hard hit by the economic crisis. It doesn’t have to be this way,” said Kelly Ross, Deputy Director for Policy at the AFL-CIO. “Low wages and economic inequality are the result of deliberate policy decisions that can and must be changed. Increasing wages and reducing inequality is not only a matter of fairness and justice, it is also urgently necessarily if we want to fix what is wrong with our economy.”
The report concludes with several solutions for policy makers to increase jobs and address these problems such as creating large public infrastructure projects, adopting expansionary fiscal policies, passing legislation to increase the federal minimum wage and minimum wage of tipped workers, raising labor standards, reestablishing the right to collective bargaining, and providing a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented workers.
“This report confirms the unfortunate reality that many Latino workers are struggling to provide even the most basic needs to their families,” said Ana Avendaño, AFL-CIO Assistant to the President and Director of Immigration and Community Action. “This is wrong. Latinos work hard every day to build this nation. Let’s honor Labor Day by advocating for policies that will allow them to reach the American Dream.”
Contact: Gonzalo Salvador/Luis Santoyo (202) 637-5018
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AFL-CIO Media Outreach Department 202-637-5018
Gonzalo Salvador , 202-637-5033
