cover image: 2023 Black Census - Executive Summary

20.500.12592/1qwcld3

2023 Black Census - Executive Summary

6 Aug 2024

While the minimum wage has increased in various cities and states compared to the Federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, wages are still low, and after years of fighting for a $15 minimum wage, various groups are now pushing for a $20 minimum to counter the increases in cost of living since the start of the “Fight for $15” campaign. [...] The centrality of economic concerns in the lives of Black Americans is reflected in the popularity of two other policy solutions to alleviate need and poverty in the country. [...] In the last two decades, we have suffered through a major housing crisis, a recession that in Black communities and other communities of color was an economic depression, an ineffective political system that has bailed out the banks and other wealthy interests at the expense of people, and a judicial and police system that punishes Black people while letting the agents of the state get away with m. [...] Most Black Census respondents reported voting in the 2022, 2020, and 2018 elections, and the vast majority reported a likelihood of voting in the 2024 elections. [...] Given that many of the issues and the policy prescriptions occur at the state and local levels, lower levels of participation in these elections, in contrast with presidential elections, indicate a dilution of the Black vote to the detriment of their interests.
Pages
22
Published in
United States of America

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