In 2022, the Oregon state legislature passed HB 4002 which mandates overtime pay for farmworkers. In this policy brief, LERC Research Associate Mary Follo assesses the primary research cited by Oregon growers in opposition to the legislation. She finds a number of methodological problems with this research that cast doubt on their conclusions….
This report documents how home-based child care providers and their families pay the price for both poor wages and working conditions in the rest of the economy, and for our stingy public child care programs. Families can’t afford the true cost of care and our severely underfunded public child care programs are too small and weak to make up the difference….
LERC announces the release of a new report: “A State of Immigrants: A New Look at the Immigrant Experience in Oregon.” The book was edited by LERC Director, Bob Bussel and produced by LERC Staff, with contributions from scholars across the state….
In this report, LERC professor Gordon Lafer finds that one of the most critical factors that will determine the quality of EV manufacturing jobs is whether employees will have the right to organize labor unions without fear or intimidation….
This report examines the progress women and workers of color have made entering the Oregon construction industry. We find that pre-apprenticeship programs and targeted recruitment efforts over the last decade have had a significant impact creating a more diverse construction workforce….
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law on March 11th and will send close to $6 billion to cities, counties, universities, school districts, and state agencies across Oregon. While the Department of Education and the U.S. Treasury are still developing the detailed spending criteria, funds are expected to be dispersed starting in mid-May. This…
This report highlights the growing visibility and vulnerability of food processing workers in rural Washington—primarily immigrants and people of color—who faced severe COVID-19 outbreaks due to crowded, high-risk working conditions. Workers also struggled to access public relief due to bureaucratic hurdles, misinformation and language barriers. …
Essential Yet Invisible explores how COVID-19 has intensified the risks and complexities of one of Oregon’s fastest growing occupations, homecare work. Workers are often left to independently adjust care routines and adopt additional health and safety measures. These heightened challenges disproportionately impact women—especially women of color….
This report covers the union and nonunion homecare industry and workforce in Oregon, with a particular focus on nonunion private agency homecare work….
Online charter schools have grown especially rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic. While online options are important for some students, online charter schools provide an inferior quality of education. Yet despite having much lower costs, such schools generally receive the same dollars per student in public funding – or nearly the same – as do traditional schools. All told, the report estimates that Californians waste $600 million per year by overpaying for the costs of online charter education….