In this brief, we provide an overview of work in the direct-care industry and profile PHI (Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute), an organization dedicated to improving job quality in the industry. Our goal is to offer information to those involved in workforce development about the challenges of work in the direct-care industry and the strategies PHI uses to promote job quality improvements.

This report details the state of low-wage work in the restaurant industry and provides a profile of Restaurant Opportunities Center-United, an organization striving to empower low-wage restaurant workers, employers, and consumers to collectively improve job quality in the industry.

This report details the dynamics and challenges of the residential construction industry and provides a profile of the Workers Defense Project, a non-profit and membership-based organization based in Austin, Texas that seeks to provide low-wage workers, particularly those in the construction industry, with resources to improve their working and living conditions

In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, a holiday created by Americans to honor our moms and their influence in society. With the presence of women with children in the workforce increasing, mothers are not only the glue that holds our homes together, but they are also the fuel helping to drive our economic recovery. Two-thirds of women with young children now work and nearly half are the primary breadwinner within their family. As more moms enter the workforce and “lean in” to build a successful career and household, however, the affordable, quality early care and education system their families need to lean on is noticeably absent. The women and moms working in the early care and education industry also face significant challenges. Low wages, few benefits and limited training or advancement opportunities are widespread in the early care and education industry, which contributes to high worker turnover, further eroding the quality of care.

In this event, speakers discuss how we can have both an early care and education system that provides good jobs and quality, affordable care.

Today, roughly four million Americans earn wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. For a family of four, this wage falls beneath the poverty line. As President Obama recently stated in his State of the Union Address, in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. However, the problem of working people living in poverty continues to grow. Low wage jobs have made up the majority of new jobs coming out of the recession and are projected to comprise a substantial share of the jobs that will be created in the coming decade. Given that the wage floor has far-reaching effects on the economy, meaningful consideration of its impact on workers, consumer spending, income inequality and other issues is vital.

This event features a successful business leader and philanthropist, a leading conservative voice, a workers’ rights advocate, and a prominent researcher discussing how raising the minimum wage could contribute to addressing our jobs challenge. The event is the first discussion in an Aspen Institute series titled Working in America, which focuses on ideas and policies to improve opportunities for American workers.

Domestic workers—those that are employed in our homes to care for children, elderly and the disabled as well as perform a variety of other duties, such as cooking and cleaning—are critical to our economy, our society and our families’ well-being. Yet many domestic workers are paid little, receive no employee benefits, and may work in an environment with other challenges that can affect their health and safety.

At this event, panelists from academia, advocacy, organizing and philanthropy discuss the experiences of domestic workers and ideas and policies for improving their work. This event is the sixth discussion in a series titled, Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program.

This is the fifth conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

This is the fourth conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

On July 25th 2012, the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative hosted a conversation titled, “Taking Inventory of Retail Jobs: A Discussion on Work in the Retail Industry.”

Featuring: Carrie Gleason, Executive Director, Retail Action Project; Kim Owen, Vice-President of Human Resources (retired), QuikTrip Corporation; Zeynep Ton, Adjunct Associate Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management. Moderated by Steven Greenhouse, Labor and Workplace Reporter for The New York Times.

This is the third conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low-Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low-wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low-wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

This report illustrates the state of low-wage work in the retail industry and provides a profile of the Retail Action Project, an organization striving to improve job quality in retail.