State Wage Research Articles

Association Between Self-Direction and Personal Care Aide Wages.

The supply of personal care aides (PCAs), who assist people receiving home care, is a growing concern. PCA shortages result, in part, from the low wages earned by these workers. State policies have had some effect on wages. Self-direction (SD) may be associated with wages because SD allows home care recipients to hire and manage workers, including setting wages in most states. We used wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the association between SD and the wages of PCAs. We found implementation of SD did not have a consistent association with PCA wages, with wages improving in some states and worsening in others. We also found little difference in PCA wages between states that allow participants to set worker wages and those that do not. SD does not seem to improve PCA wages in states, so other policy strategies will be needed.

Burden and social distribution of occupational psychosocial exposures in the United States workforce, 2022.

To characterize the burden and social distribution of occupational psychosocial exposures in the United States (US). We merged 2022 US employment and demographic data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) with occupational characteristic data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey, and hours worked from the CPS, to estimate the number and proportion of US workers at risk of exposure to 19 psychosocial hazards. We additionally estimated the number and proportion of US workers over- or underrepresented in exposure burden. Of the exposures examined, US workers were most commonly employed in occupations with high time pressure (67.5 million US workers exposed; 43.2% US workers exposed), high emotional labor (57.1 million; 36.6%), and low wages (47.8 million; 30.6%). The burden of exposures was uneven across sociodemographic strata, attributable to occupational segregation. The full data set is available online at https://deohs.washington.edu/us-exposure-burden. Work-related psychosocial exposures are ubiquitous and should be considered in occupational and public health research, policy, and interventions to reduce the burden of disease and health inequities in the United States.

Downscaling occupational employment data from the state to the Census tract level

The lack of detailed occupational employment data at more granular geographic levels presents significant challenges in forecasting and analyzing local and regional employment changes in the era of the new technological revolution. This study aims to develop detailed occupational employment data by downscaling state-level employment information to the Census tract level. We introduce two downscaling algorithms that leverage employment, population, and sociodemographic composition data sourced from the American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, and the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. This approach allows us to create a tract-level employment dataset covering 808 occupations. Such data are crucial for examining the effects of expected technological and demographic shifts on employment at this scale, which is critical for understanding tax base implications and job mobility opportunities. We demonstrate the value of these datasets by examining employment projections for two occupations anticipated to decline due to technological advancements in the near future.

The impact of political party control and economic forces on redistributive state wage policies since 1968

The impact of political party control and economic forces on redistributive state wage policies since 1968

The rate of return to early childhood education in Japan: estimates from the nationwide expansion

ABSTRACT We present new estimates of the internal rate of return to early childhood education. Utilizing the nationwide expansion of preschool education in Japan between 1960 and 1980, we initially assess the impact of preschool attendance on high school graduation and college enrollment for men. Subsequently, we compute the social rate of return to preschool attendance for men by drawing upon national wage statistics to project expected wage trajectories and referencing government documents to account for the social cost of preschools. Our findings indicate a social rate of return ranging from 5.7% to 8.1%, consistent with previous estimates in the literature.

The Costs of Straw in Germany: Development of Regional Straw Supply Costs between 2010 and 2020

BackgroundThe bioeconomy relies strongly on the availability of biomass, including biogenic waste, residues and by-products. The cost of supply often represents a significant proportion of the total value of the resource. However, there is limited insight into the current supply costs of wastes, residues and by-products. This includes straw, which is the most important agricultural by-product in Germany. Despite its importance, standardised information on supply costs or market prices, as well as their temporal and spatial variation, is missing.AimTherefore, there is an urgent need for the temporal and spatial monitoring of individual cost components within total supply costs. This is essential to identify the most cost-effective options for the utilisation of agricultural by-products. Therefore, this study focuses on the case of straw to develop a model capable of visualising and mapping regional supply costs over time.MethodWe use an activity-based costing approach to calculate and monitor regional supply costs, defined as the monetary expenditure required to make straw available at the farm level. Our methodology combines typical technical and operational aspects of straw collection and transport with regional wage statistics, yield data, farm sizes, fuel prices and labour costs. We also consider storage costs and opportunity costs associated with nutrient replacement and conduct sensitivity analyses to measure their impact. To validate our calculations, we compare them with actual straw prices. To establish a reliable cost monitoring system, we propose an approach to assess the quality of input data.ResultIn 2011, the regional supply costs for straw varied from 45.72 EUR/Mg[FM] to 92.92 EUR/Mg[FM], showing a wide range. Over the years, the German average supply cost for straw increased from 56.78 EUR/Mg[FM] in 2010 to 58.79 EUR/Mg[FM] in 2020, with a peak of 61.24 EUR/Mg[FM] in 2018. This suggests that the temporal impact on mass-specific costs is relatively moderate compared to the spatial distribution of supply costs. The sensitivity analysis highlights storage time and costs, straw yield and wage levels as the main drivers of supply costs. Doubling the storage period from 3 to 6 months increases total costs by 20%. On average, the costs explain 75% of the straw price across all federal states, depending on annual price and cost levels. The quality assessment of input data shows that currently 68% of the data cannot be automatically extracted for continuous monitoring. Detailed results are available in a corresponding data publication: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8145082.ConclusionIn the absence of standardised market prices, the model presented provides an approach to estimating the supply costs of straw, expressed in terms of the monetary cost to farmers of mobilising straw. This cost information could be a valid database for further techno-economic assessments or models to evaluate the economic feasibility of straw valorisation. Due to the modular structure of the model, the future development of supply costs can be considered if the input data are adapted to future scenarios.Graphical

Demand and distribution in a dynamic spatial panel model for the United States: Evidence from state‐level data

AbstractWe estimate a modified demand‐and‐distribution system for the 48 contiguous US states and the District of Columbia (DC) employing dynamic spatial panel data for 1980–2019. We allow for endogenous regressors, test for the presence, significance, and magnitude of spatial spillovers, and estimate immediate and cumulative effects on our endogenous variables of interest. Without testing for spatial dependence and spillovers, we estimate that output growth and capacity utilization in the sample US states and DC rise in response to an increase in their own wage share. When we test for spatial dependence and spillovers as required by the state‐level nature of the data, and consider that the functional distribution of income and the level of economic activity are jointly determined, we estimate that a higher state wage share raises output growth in the own state and the neighboring states. Yet the effect of a change in the state wage share on capacity utilization in the own state and the neighboring states is not statistically significant. Meanwhile, a higher state output growth raises the wage share in the own state, but its impact on the wage share in the neighboring states is not statistically significant. A higher state capacity utilization raises the wage share in the own state, yet it reduces the wage share in the neighboring states.

The future of the labor force: higher cognition and more skills

Skills can be categorized into two types: social-cognitive and sensory-physical. Sensory-physical skills, governed by explicit rules and transparent rationales, can be effectively executed through meticulous programming, with humans spontaneously trusting machines to perform these skills. In contrast, social-cognitive skills entail open interpretations reliant on personal opinions or intuition and are contextually and problem-dependent. The inherent complexity and subjectivity of social-cognitive skills, underscored by Polanyi’s paradox and algorithm aversion, render machines less capable of replicating these skills. Thus, automation exerts differential impacts on these two skill sets. Moreover, the specialization of machines leads to expensive setup costs when switching tasks, whereas humans switch tasks with much less effort. The versatility in skills enables workers to adapt to a wide array of tasks, making them less prone to automation. Our empirical research, utilizing skill score data from O*NET and employment data from Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), validated the attributes of labor resistant to automation: the higher the scores of cognitive skills in a job, the lower its susceptibility to automation; workers endowed with a diverse array of skills experience an increase in their employment share. Conversely, jobs focusing on sensory-physical skills are more likely to be supplanted by machines. Therefore, workers can adopt two strategies to maintain a competitive edge. First, they can enhance cognitive skills, such as creativity and critical thinking. Second, they can develop diverse skills, encompassing both social-cognitive and sensory-physical skills. Specializing in a specific sensory-physical skill does not offer an advantage. Fostering a workforce proficient in cognitive skills and equipped with multifaceted skills, that is, flexible workers, becomes imperative. Our investigation represents the inaugural effort to empirically affirm the differential impact of automation on sensory-physical versus social-cognitive skills, thereby delineating the characteristics of irreplaceable labor. This analysis offers critical insights for individual career development and the strategic planning of national educational systems.

Nonresponse Bias of Japanese Wage Statistics

This article analyzes unit nonresponse bias of establishment surveys, drawing on two major government wage surveys in Japan. We find that unit nonresponse is prevalent among establishments with fewer employees, in urban prefectures, and operating in the service industry. Further, while low-wage establishments are less likely to respond, the resulting bias is quantitatively negligible. Regarding establishment sampling of employees, we find that the sampled establishments randomly choose workers in an appropriate manner. Overall, with proper weighting, nonresponse bias is negligible in Japanese wage statistics to the extent that the mean estimate is concerned. In addition to nonresponse bias, we also assess potential bias due to limited coverage of the sampling population and find substantial bias at the tails of the wage distribution. In particular, excluding corporate executives and establishments with few employees results in an underestimation of wage inequality.

Research on Reform Measures of Labor Wage Statistics

Under the background of the continuous development of our country's market economy system, the internal personnel system of public institutions has also undergone obvious changes. In combination with the actual situation, labor wage statistics is an important part of the internal personnel management system of public institutions in nature, and its statistical quality will have a very direct impact on the overall operation efficiency of public institutions. Based on this, this paper conducts an in-depth study on the status quo and reform measures of labor wage statistics in public institutions, hoping to play a certain role in the development of relevant work. With the deepening of economic and cultural integration, the scope of wushu culture industry is more and more extensive. Factors such as the degree of association and quality among industries are affected by the external ecosystem and change with the change of industry content. The external ecosystem is composed of talent flow, knowledge flow, capital flow, information flow and material flow, which can be divided into four levels. The first is the talent system, which is the key factor for the sustainable development of the martial arts cultural industry.

The Relationship Between Exits From Federally Subsidized Housing and Wages, King County, WA

Federally subsidized housing programs aim for economic self-sufficiency. We modeled housing exit type’s relationship with wage income using public housing authority exit data and Washington State wage data. Our cohort included 1,974 exits. Positive exits had higher mean wages ($8,392 vs. $6,643 and $6,253) and working hours (432 vs. 373 and 355) compared to neutral and negative exits, respectively. Households with positive exits were more likely to earn a living wage (33.5%) than those with neutral (16.9%) or negative (15.1%) exits. According to our model, positive exits earned an additional $1,593 (95% confidence interval: $1,031, $2,156) per quarter compared to negative exits. Wages among positive exits were substantially higher than those among neutral exits for four quarters before and after exit; wages among neutral exits were slightly higher than those for negative exits. These methods can assess the impact of programs targeting economic self-sufficiency among housing support recipients.

CONTINUING CHALLENGES IN STATE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE DIRECT CARE WORKER WAGES

Abstract Direct care workers (DCWs) receive low wages and some states have tried to improve their wages through policy changes. This mixed methods study examined the effect of state wage policies on changes in DCW wages. We also conducted 38 interviews with national experts and stakeholders across six states to determine the results of these policy changes and continued barriers to improving DCW wages. Results show some states that implemented policies to improve the wages of DCWs since 2009 reduced the gap between DCW wages and the wages of other entry-level workers, yet the gap was still substantial in many states. Experts and state stakeholders repeatedly cited consistent funding of wage policies through Medicaid reimbursement rate increases as important to effectively increasing and sustaining higher wages. Interviewees recommended that funding increases be continual, rather than requiring annual reauthorization and noted it was particularly challenging when funds were inadequate to support annual wage increases. Interviewees described Medicaid reimbursement rates as a barrier when rates did not keep pace with market trends. Interviewees also recommended professionalizing the field, increasing the respect afforded these workers, and developing ways to increase the pipeline of workers as additional ways to improve direct care work. Until there is meaningful policy change, states will continue to struggle with barriers to improved wages for DCWs which results in a disproportionate number of DCWs relying on public benefits and difficulties with recruitment and retention.

On the positive relation between the wage share and labor productivity growth with endogenous size and direction of technical change

This paper combines induced innovation and endogenous growth to investigate two issues: the relation between the wage share and labor productivity growth and the potential influence of the saving rate on the steady state wage share. We assume that myopic competitive firms choose the size and direction of technical change to maximize the growth rate of profits. First, we find technological conditions sufficient to ensure that labor productivity growth is a positive function of the wage share. Second, we show that the steady state wage share depends on the saving rate if, and only if, R&D investment affects the marginal rate of transformation between labor and capital productivity growth. Both results have important policy implications as they clarify under what conditions any factor affecting the wage share or the saving rate will have an impact on labor productivity growth or steady-state income distribution.

The Challenges of Educating a Cardiac Sonography Workforce

Objective: Cardiac sonographers are challenged on a daily basis to provide excellent frontline care for a variety of patients. They face challenges of promoting quality over quantity and continued support for education and training efforts. Echocardiography requires an operator-dependent sonographer with independent judgement and critical thinking skills to obtain and integrate diagnostic information during the echo examination. The growth of echocardiographic procedures has increased the demand for qualified cardiac sonographers to cover the workload. Materials and Methods: Occupational employment and wage statistics, educational opportunities, simulation labs and clinical sites, national registries, and ASE standards for a quality echo educational environment are discussed. Results: The national curriculum for echocardiography is extensive and requires adequate clinical hands-on training to promote an opportunity for the student to become a competent cardiac sonographer. Credentialing in echocardiography demonstrates to the patients, healthcare professionals, and employers of medical facilities that the cardiac sonographer is a dedicated professional in their respective field. Conclusions: Additional accredited cardiovascular programs with active credentialed clinical sites to fulfill this shortage. The skillset has increased with new procedures requiring training in advanced imaging techniques such as three-dimensional imaging, strain, tissue Doppler, and contrast-enhanced imaging.

The Logic of “War on Deforestation”: A Military Response to Climate Change in the Colombian Amazon

The renewed global efforts to contain climate change have meant a gateway for some Latin American countries to declare new military actions. The “war on deforestation,” announced in 2021 by Iván Duque, the former president of Colombia, is a paradigmatic example. Through Operation Artemis ( Operación Artemisa), the Colombian armed forces were assigned to protect the forests against threats from armed non-state actors (ANSAs) predominantly located in the country’s Amazon rainforests. We argue that this war was a rhetorical and political model of the Duque government that sought, based on the re-elaboration of the counterinsurgent categories shared with the United States for half a century, to implement in the Amazon the first state military strategy to reach global agreements against climate change. Why does a state wage war in the name of protecting forests? We argue that in this novel rhetorical, military, and criminal framework, the war on deforestation encouraged the renewal of the war on drugs and the transformation of the internal enemy. Drawing on analyses of presidential policies passed since 1970 and, more recently, green crime law, this article showcases a new chapter on the state’s goal of achieving territorial control through green militarization.

State Minimum Wage Increases As a Potential Policy Lever to Reduce Black-White Disparities in Hypertension.

Black adults are disproportionately burdened by hypertension. Income inequality is associated with elevated risk of hypertension. Minimum wage increases have been explored as a potential policy lever to address the disparate impact of hypertension on this population. However, these increases may have no significant impact on health among Black adults due to structural racism and "diminished gain" of health effects from socioeconomic resources. This study assesses the relationship between state minimum wage increases and Black-White disparities in hypertension. We merged state-level minimum wage data with survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2001-2019). Odd survey years included questions about hypertension. Separate difference-in-difference models estimated the odds of hypertension among Black and White adults in states with and without minimum wage increases. Difference-in-difference-in-difference models estimated the impact of minimum wage increases on hypertension among Black adults relative to White adults. As state wage limits increase, the odds of hypertension significantly decreased among Black adults overall. This relationship is largely driven by the impact of these policies on Black women. However, the Black-White disparity in hypertension worsened as state minimum wage limits increased, and the magnitude of this disparity was larger among women. States having a minimum wage above the federal wage limit are not sufficient to combat structural racism and reduce the disparities in hypertension among Black adults. Rather, future research should explore livable wages as a policy lever to reduce disparities in hypertension among Black adults.

Who Will Care for Rural Older Adults? Measuring the Direct Care Workforce in Rural Areas.

Using the 2021 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) dataset, we calculate the ratio of direct care workers relative to the population of older adults (ages 65+) across rural and urban areas in the US. We find that there are, on average, 32.9 home health aides per 1000 older adults (age 65+) in rural areas and 50.4 home health aides per 1000 older adults in urban areas. There are, on average, 20.9 nursing assistants per 1000 older adults in rural areas and 25.3 nursing assistants per 1000 older adults in urban areas. There is substantial regional variation. Greater investment needs to be made in improving wages and job quality for direct care workers to attract workers to these critical occupations, especially in rural areas where the need for direct care is greater.

Transforming a child's claim for loss of earning capacity

This article explores the possible constitutional transformation of a child's delictual claim for loss of earning capacity. As such, it is located at the intersection of the law of delict and child law. The current law on a child's claim for loss of earning capacity is explained first. It is shown that such a claim involves a concurrent violation of the constitutional rights to bodily integrity and property which common-law thinkers call a person's "personal immaterial property". A claim for loss of future earning capacity may be brought by or on behalf of a child in terms of the common law's rules for Aquilian liability. In this regard, it is noted that the assessment of future losses is a controversial legal issue because it necessarily involves speculation about future hypotheticals. While controversial, claims of this nature may be reasonably determined with reference to available evidence. In terms of the law, as it stands, factors that courts consider in quantifying a child's damages for loss of earning capacity include the average probable income, the child's schooling and familial context, wage statistics, and broad judicial discretion. It will be shown that these factors could be applied (and sometimes have been applied) in ways that perpetuate past patterns of exclusion and poverty that are often racially determined - ultimately resulting in some children's claims for loss of earning capacity being pitched below a liveable wage. Relying on the constitutional right to equality and the constitutional best interests of the child standard, it is argued that the common law ought to be developed in this regard to move our law of delict in the direction of distributive justice. In this regard, reference to "liveable wages" and "fairness" (as a consideration in exercising judicial discretion) may be appropriate guidelines used to quantify children's claims for loss of earning capacity in future.

EFFECT OF STATE WAGE POLICIES ON DIRECT CARE WORKER WAGES

Abstract Direct care workers (DCWs) have low wages and some states have tried to improve their wages through policies such as Medicaid wage pass-throughs and wage floors specific to DCWs. The purpose of this study was to examine the wages of DCWs in comparison to those of other entry level workers and assess the effect of state wage policies on changes in DCW wages. We analyzed state-level hourly wages using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data for two categories of DCWs separately—(1) home health and personal care aides and (2) nursing assistants and compared these to wages for other entry-level workers. Results show that many states that implemented policies to improve the wages of DCWs reduced the gap between these workers’ wages and the wages of other entry-level workers, but the gap was still substantial in many states. Additional efforts will be needed to increase DCW wages.

Did Minimum Wage Policy Changes Impact Home Health Workforce?

The shortage of home health aides has been exacerbated in recent years partially because of low wages. Minimum wage (MW) policy changes may alleviate this workforce shortage. This study examined the effects of MW policies on wages and employment of home health aides. We performed a county-level longitudinal analysis using 2012 to 2018 national data. The study cohort included 2,496 counties and focused on all workers in the home health industry. Outcome variables included wages and the employment of home health aides. Key variables of interest included the consumer price index adjusted state MW and a set of variables that captured the effect of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) extension. This study found that home health aides' hourly wages were $1.00 higher (p = .011) in states that increased their MWs from below $8 to above $10. The FLSA extension was associated with $1.15 higher wages in states with higher MWs (i.e., state MW above $10 in 2014). The FLSA extension was associated with higher employment of home health aides in less-competitive markets, rather than high- or average-competitive markets. This study suggests that state MW increases combined with the FLSA extension may help maintain the current home health workforce and improve their wages.