Reports
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2023 – Appendix: Research design and methodology
How we define the ‘auto industry’ In this study, we confined our definition of the auto industry to the three industries that conduct auto manufacturing (as opposed to other auto-related activities): NAICS 3361 – Motor Vehicle Manufacturing NAICS 3362 – Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing NAICS 3363 – Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing Taken together, [...]
Report
PARCA presentation on Medicaid expansion in Brewton
Medicaid expansion would save lives, create jobs and strengthen the health care system across Alabama. Ryan Hankins, executive director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA), gave a presentation on Medicaid expansion's benefits at a public event that Alabama Arise co-hosted on Feb. 27, 2023, at DW McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton.
Report
Alabama’s road to a better public transportation future
Public transportation is an investment in people, communities, the economy and the environment. By providing state funding for public transportation, Alabama lawmakers can help ensure these freedoms for everyone in our state.
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021
Introduction When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that have [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 1 – Introduction: The high cost of failing to protect the common good
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial and gender inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 2 – Unequal by design: COVID-19 and Alabama’s policy legacy
COVID-19 revealed a stark reality about Alabama’s economy from the beginning: Our state has stacked the deck against underpaid working people. A high poverty rate, low educational attainment and poor health outcomes – with racial, ethnic and geographical disparities in all of these measures – are the results of low wages, low taxes and low [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 3 – Assessing the damage: COVID-19 and Alabama’s labor market
Where are we now? The COVID-19 recession hit vulnerable Alabama workers hard and fast. Alabamians working in low-paying industries suffered immediate and severe job losses, which fell hardest on women and people of color. Unemployment insurance (UI), designed for just such a moment, was inadequate and insufficient to the needs of these workers because of [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 4 – Praised but underprotected: Front-line workers in the pandemic
Where are we now? Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve grown used to seeing, and applauding, signs in front of hospitals, fire departments, police stations and other emergency service providers saying “Heroes work here.” And we’ve learned to say “thank you” to people serving their communities’ needs at grocery, drug and convenience stores. We’ve learned [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 5 – Why coverage matters: Health care in the time of COVID-19
Where are we now? While the COVID-19 pandemic has slammed all segments of Alabama’s economy and society in one way or another, the health care industry is where most of these effects converge. By the end of 2020, more than 350,000 Alabamians had tested positive or were considered likely positive for the virus, 72% of [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 6 – The ugly reality: Alabama’s hunger problem during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to widespread hunger in Alabama. We all have seen the pictures – lines of cars stretching for blocks waiting to receive an emergency food box, desperate appeals from food banks that distributed as much food in the first six months of the pandemic as they did in the prior year, [...]