In celebration of Labor Day and the working Hoosier families responsible for raising productivity and profits in Indiana, the Indiana Institute for Working Families is pleased to release The Status of Working Families in Indiana, 2018: How to return Indiana to its place as a leader in jobs, wages, and the economy in the Midwest and the U.S. The report finds that despite Hoosiers’ hard work, state policy choices are preventing them from being properly rewarded, with key indicators including incomes and rates of working poor families near the bottom of the Midwest, and with trends moving towards the South.
“The data in this report should be a wake-up call to all Hoosiers that Indiana is now a fundamentally different state for working families in 2018 than it was at the beginning of the 21st century,” said Senior Policy Analyst and report author Andrew Bradley. “The average Hoosier now makes less per hour than the average Southerner, with per capita incomes next-to-last in the Midwest even adjusting for cost of living, plus state forecasts that 7 in 10 jobs will be in low-wage occupations by 2026. These aren’t accidents or bad luck, but the results of policy choices that have kept job quality standards low, weakened the safety net, reduced worker voice, widened income inequality, and put an increasing state tax burden on middle class and working families. But the good news is that Hoosiers will find a way to get the job done if they’re given the right tools. It’s time for Indiana to implement an Agenda for Working Hoosier Families and reclaim its place as a leader in the Midwest and the U.S.,” Bradley said.
The new report includes data exclusive within Indiana through the Institute’s membership in the Economic Policy Institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network, as well as analysis of federal, state, and county-specific data. The report covers issues of jobs, educational attainment, incomes, cost of living, poverty, economic self-sufficiency, taxes, and economic inequality. The report also explores the impact of policy decisions on working Hoosier families across genders and racial groups throughout Indiana.