the unheard third 2006: bringing the voices of low-income new yorkers to the policy debate

1© Community Service Society of New York February 2007

THE UNHEARD THIRD 2006:BRINGING THE VOICES OF LOW-INCOME NEW YORKERSTO THE POLICY DEBATEBriefing by Nancy Rankin for the Summit on Economic Class and the Work-Family Dilemma: Solutions for All

New Yorkers, February 2, 2007

This is one of a series of reports based on findings from the fifth annual citywide survey of 1,230 lower-income New York City

residents and 500 moderate- and higher-income New Yorkers with an oversample of 158 immigrants. The m argin of error is

+/- 2.8% for the low-income sample and +/- 4.4% for the moderate and higher income sample; the margin of error is greater

for subgroups. The survey was administered for Community Service Society of New York by Lake Research Partners

between July 16 and August 3, 2006 and August 23 and August 27, 2006.

For complete findings visit www.cssny.org/research/unheardthird.


SURVEY REVEALS MOST OF NYC’S WORKING POOR DO NOT GET EVEN A SINGLE PAID SICK DAY

For low-income workers with meager savings, that means tough choices between going to work sick or losing a day’s pay, falling behind on the bills and risking job loss.

Of the City’s working poor, almost two-thirds (65%) or 221,000 workers report having no paid sick days; close to half of near-poor (45%) and nearly a third (32%) of moderate-higher income workers also lack sick days

7 out of 10 New Yorkers – across incomes – say it’s time to make paid sick leave a basic right for all workers

OVERVIEW


MANY WORKERS – AND MOST OF THE WORKING POOR -- LACK EVEN A SINGLE PAID SICK DAY

Q33. Which of the following benefits, if any, do you receive from your employer…paid sick leave?

Percent of workers with paid sick days

Poor (0 to 100% of FPL)

Near Poor (101 to 200% of FPL)

Mod-High income (> 200% of FPL)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

PERCENT

35%

55%

68%

Poor

Near Poor

Mod-High

2006 FINDINGS


LOW-INCOME WORKERS MORE LIKELY TO HOLD PART-TIME JOBS; BUT THAT EXPLAINS ONLY PART OF THE GAP

Part-time Full-time

Q28. Are you currently employed full-time, employed part-time, unemployed, retired, a homemaker, or a full-time student?

Poor Near Poor Mod-High income

22%

17%

61%

83%

Poor

Near Poor

Mod-High

39%

78%

2006 FINDINGS


EVEN AMONG THOSE IN FULL-TIME JOBS, MOST OF THE WORKING POOR DON’T HAVE PAID SICK DAYS

Q33. Which of the following benefits, if any, do you receive from your employer… paid sick leave?

All workers

Full-time workers


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

PERCENT

Poor

Poor

Near Poor

Mod-High

Near Poor

Mod-High

44%

64%

74%

68%

55%

35%

2006 FINDINGS

Percent with paid sick days


NYC’S LOW-INCOME WORKERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE EMPLOYED BY SMALL FIRMS

2006 FINDINGS

Q29. Approximately how many people would you say work at your current place of

employment?

RESPONSES OF THE EMPLOYED*


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

PERCENT

Less than 15

15-49

50 or more

*Excludes workers who are self-employed or responded “don’t know”

61%

54%38%

34%

24%

18%

21%

17%

19%

Number ofcoworkers


WORKERS IN SMALL FIRMS LESS LIKELY TO GET SICK DAYS; LIKELIHOOD GOES DOWN AS INCOME DECLINES

More than 50 workers

Less than 50 workers

Poor Near Poor Mod-High

RESPONSES OF THE EMPLOYED*

*Excludes workers who are self-employed or responded “don’t know”

61%

36%

.

75%

60%

53%

44%

43%

68%

55%

38%

25%

56%

Q33. Which of the following benefits, if any, do you receive from your employer…paid sick

leave?

Firm size

e.g., Of the 61% of moderate to high income workers employed by firms with 50 or more employees, 75% receive paid sick days.

2006 FINDINGS

Solid colors represents proportion with paid sick days


MOST LOW-INCOME WORKING MOMS –THE PRIME FAMILY CAREGIVERS – DON’T GET ANY PAID SICK DAYS

2006 FINDINGS

All low-income working mothers

Mod-high incomeworking mothers

Low-income, single working mothers

Q33. Which of the following benefits, if any, do you receive from your employer…paid sick leave?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

PERCENT

48%

44%

70%

Percent getting paid sick leave


LOSING A DAY’S PAY HAS STARK CONSEQUENCES FOR WORKERS WITH ALMOST NO SAVINGS

2006 FINDINGS

<$100

$100-$500

Low-income single All low-income Low-income workersworking moms workers without paid sick days

Q87. If tough times were to hit you and your family, how much money in savings do you have to fall back on?

46%

8%

54%

31%

12%

43%

28%

13%

41%


LACK OF PAID SICK DAYS COMPOUNDS PROBLEMS FACING UNINSURED WORKERS

Among low-income workers surveyed . . .

A third were uninsured for part or all of the previous year and 19% are currently uninsured (with no health coverage from employer

or a public program like Medicaid)

54% have no paid sick days, and

14% have neither paid sick days nor health insurance (at time of survey)

Of those without sick days and health coverage:

40% experienced 3 or more hardships in the past year such as falling behind on rent, not being able to fill a needed prescription, having the lights or phone turned off, or not being able to afford food.

2006 FINDINGS


LOW-WAGE NEW YORKERS STRUGGLE TO COPE WITHOUT PAID SICK DAYS OR HEALTH BENEFITS

Here’s what non-union security guards in Manhattan office buildings told us:

“Gotta go to work even if I’m sick.”

“My new company said if you want medical benefits you will have to pay x dollars a month.

You wind up paying half your paycheck to get benefits . . . but I haven’t done that yet. I just

pray and hope I’m all right.”

“You don’t work, you don’t get paid.”

“I got sick and I went to the hospital and they charged me $1,000, so I have to work

to pay that off . . . which will take me about a year. I have to pay it.”

Source: Shortchanging Security: How Poor Training, Low Pay and Lack of Job Protection for Security Guards Undermine Public Safety in New York City, by Nancy Rankin and Mark Levitan, CSS Report, 2006.

FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS


. . . AND IT’S NOT JUST THE WORKERS WHO GET SICK; WORKING CONDITIONS TAKE A TOLL ON PUBLIC HEALTH

Among 530 restaurant workers surveyed in 2003, the NYC Restaurant Industry Coalition found: 84% did not get paid sick days; 73% had no health insurance

“ I don’t have health insurance and I don’t get sick days . . . I can’t afford medical bills nor can I afford to miss work so I never go to the doctor. . . I always have a bad cold but do I have a choice? I really can’t afford to miss work – my sisters at home depend on me.”

George, Dishwasher1

“ I have no choice but to work when I am sick . . . I am in constant contact with the food served and I prepare the drinks.”

Waitress at Upper West Side restaurant2

Sources: Reports by the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York and the NYC Restaurant Industry Coalition 1Behind the Kitchen Door: Pervasive Inequality in New York City’s Thriving Restaurant Industry , Jan. 25, 2005, p 18.2 Dining Out, Dining Healthy: The Link Between Public Health and Working Conditions in New York City’s Restaurant Industry, April 2006, p.6.


THE BOTTOM LINE: BUSINESS CAN AFFORD TO DO THIS AND CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO

Presenteeism imposes costs on businesses and taxpayers:

Lowers productivity, extends illness and spreads contagion

Increases turnover costs

Sending sick children to school spreads illness

Workers unable to keep medical appointments can end up using costlier ER or become disabled from chronic conditions like diabetes

The “abuse myth”: Workers with 7 paid sick days miss an average of 1.8 days annually for illness (excl.maternity) (Source: NHIS data cited by Vicky Lovell, Institute for Women’s Policy Research)

Many firms provide sick days now . . . and they stay in business.


NEW YORKERS SUPPORT A LAW REQUIRING EMPLOYERS TO PROVIDE PAID SICK DAYS

2006 FINDINGS

There should be a law that requires employers to give full-time

workers at least 7 days of paid sick leave annually

so workers don’t have to choose between losing their pay or going

to work sick, sending sick children to school or leaving them alone.

In this economy, a law that requires employers to give full-time

workers at least 7 days of paid sick leave will be too costly for

some businesses forcing them to cut jobs or increase prices

and is not practical for all small businesses.

*Percents may not add up to 100 because excludes those who responded “don’t know.”

Q22. Which comes closer to your view?

RESPONSES*

21%

22%

72%

69%

Low Income Mod-High Income


SUPPORT FOR PAID SICK DAYS VARIES SLIGHTLY BY GROUP BUT IS GENERALLY VERY STRONG

2006 FINDINGS

Black women

Women

Men

Registered voters

Democrats

Republicans

Hispanic men

Traditional men

Less than high school men

0 20 40 60 80 100

PERCENT

RESPONSES for ALL INCOME LEVELS

72

66

66

74

58

61

71

80

Favor a law that requires workers to give full-time workers at least 7 days of paid sick leave annually

50


PUBLIC FAVORS EXTENDING STATE DISABILITY INSURANCE (TDI) TO PROVIDE PAID LEAVE

2005 FINDINGS

Q60 and Q62. Employees in New York State are currently covered by state disability insurance… Would you favor or oppose extending the system to provide…

Favor

79%14%

76%

Oppose

All New Yorkers

Black and Hispanic New Yorkers

15%

Strongly Favor

Strongly Oppose

19% 70%

Somewhat Oppose

Somewhat Favor

42%

44%35%

11%8% 30% 40%

34%

69%30% 39%

5% 9%

21% 9% 12%

Q60. …paid leave to care for a new baby or seriously ill family

member?

Black and Hispanic New Yorkers

All New Yorkers

Q62. …up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a

new baby or seriously ill family member if it meant

$1.00 a week would be deducted from your

paycheck?

*Percents add up to less than 100 because those who responded “don’t know” are excluded

9%6%

RESPONSES*


Rx FOR PROGRESS: WORKERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEIR HEALTH AND THEIR LIVELIHOODS

Proposed federal legislation: The Healthy Families Act (Senator Edward Kennedy and Representative Rosa DeLauro)

Provides 7 days paid sick leave/year for full-time employees and pro-rata amount for part-time workers

For own illness, medical care or to care for family member

Covers employers with at least 15 employees and employees who work at least 20 hours/wk or 1000 hours/yr

By 61%, San Francisco voters approved a ballot initiative Nov. 2006

All workers earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked to care for their own or a family member’s health

Big business would provide up to 9 sick days; firms <10 workers would provide up to 5 days

recommendations


HOW THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED

Telephone interviews with 1888 residents using random digit dialing (July 16 - August 3, 2006 and August 23 - August 27, 2006).

1,230 low-income (poor and near-poor below 200% of poverty level)

500 moderate and higher income New Yorkers

158 over-sample of low-income immigrants

Totals show low-income weighted down to actual share of NYC pop.

Surveys conducted in English, Spanish, and Chinese

Margin of error: low-income +/- 2.8%; mod-higher income +/- 4.4%; the margin of error is greater for subgroups.

Survey administered by Lake Research Partners, national pollsters

METHODOLOGY


COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

For 160 years, the Community

Service Society has promoted

economic advancement for low-

income New Yorkers through

research, advocacy and

innovation. CSS is a nonpartisan,

nonprofit, organization.

Funding for this research was provided

by United Way of New York City and

the New York Community Trust.

A Report from CSS POLICY RESEARCH

Director of Policy Research

Nancy Rankin

Mark Levitan, Senior Labor Policy Analyst

Sabine Salandy, Policy Analyst

Don Friedman, Senior Public Benefits Policy Analyst

Victor Bach, Senior Housing Policy Analyst

Thomas Waters, Policy Analyst

Denise Soffel, Senior Health Policy Analyst

Claire Homitzky, Research Analyst

Community Service Society of New York

David R. Jones, President

Janet W. Thompson, Board Chairperson

105 E. 22nd St.

New York, NY 10010

Contact: Nancy Rankin 212-614-5309

Presentation design: Linda Josefowicz


DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF LOW-INCOME SAMPLE

GenderMen 44%Women 56% Race / EthnicityWhite 18%Black 36%Hispanic 34%Asian 7%Other 1% Immigrant StatusNative born 62%Immigrant 36%Don’t know 2%

Income Level Poor (<100 of FPL%) 52%Near Poor (100-199%) 48%

Region Bronx 23%Manhattan 17%Brooklyn 37%Staten Island 2%Queens 21%

AgeUnder 30 25%30-39 25%40-49 19%50-64 16%65 and over 13% Household CompositionWith child under age of 19 41%No children under age 19 56% Marital StatusMarried 32%Unmarried with partner 10%Single 35%Separated/divorced 13%Widowed 8% Work StatusEmployed full-time 46%Employed part-time 12%Unemployed 13%Retired 13%Homemaker 8%Student 2%

Education StatusLess than HS 22%High school graduate 39%GED 1%Non-college post HS 5%Some college 16%Associate degree 5%College graduate 7%Post-graduate 2% Party IdentificationDemocrat 48%Independent 15%Republican 10%Other / don’t know 19%

Note: Survey was fielded July 16-August 3, 2006 and August 23-August 27, 2006.

the unheard third 2006: bringing the voices of low-income new yorkers to the policy debate

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