Inaugurated as an ongoing series in August 2006, Regional Institute Policy Briefs provide objective data and succinct analysis in an illustrated format to frame issues, inform decisions and guide policy action. The series has addressed such issues as the exodus of young from the region, air quality, public transportation, the cross-border economy and rural demographic change.
Playing an Insecure Hand: Low-Wage Workers in the New Economy - February 2010
For a growing number of families and workers in Western New York, low-wage work is the only—or the last—employment option. In 2009, one out of four jobs in the region were in occupations where the median annual wage fell below the poverty line for a family of four. This rising reliance on low-wage work is a discouraging change from the post-war economic boom when incomes and standards of living soared—a period that continues to shape our employment and lifestyle expectations. Actions by an array of individuals and groups— unbound by ideology—are essential for alleviating regional economic insecurity.
Additional Policy Briefs
- Sizing Up Local Legislatures - September 2009
- School Limits: Probing the Boundaries of Public Education - June 2009
- Inside the Ballot Box - March 2009
- The End of Local Government as We Know It? - January 2009
- Border Brief - October 2008
- Thirty Years from Love Canal - August 2008
- When I'm 65 - June 2008
- Grasping the New Economy - March 2008
- Upstate's Recent Arrivals - January 2008
- Getting There - November 2007
- Governing the Green - September 2007
- The Regional Name Game - July 2007
- Defining the Region's Edge - June 2007
- Violent Crime in the City of Good Neighbors - February 2007
- The Public Sector in WNY - January 2007
- Every Breath We Take - November 2006
- Poverty: A State of Extremes - October 2006
- Rural Change, Regional Challenges - September 2006
- The Young & the Restless - August 2006
- The Region's Edge - August 2006
