Estimating the Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in New York

When employers cut wages and health benefits, their workers must resort to publicly funded programs to make ends meet, straining an already overburdened system. We are conducting a study that estimates the cost of this drain on public dollars in New York State, and how it breaks down by industry and demographic characteristics. The goal of the study is to highlight the true cost of low-road employment practices and short-sighted economic development strategies. (This study replicates a 2004 public cost report for California.)