Report: Washington among best states for hourly workers
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Washington remains one of the best states in the country for hourly workers based on its high minimum wage and the elimination of less-than-minimum tip wages, according to a senior researcher at Oxfam America.
State of play: For the second year in a row, Washington placed fifth in the best states to work index compiled by the global anti-poverty organization.
Why it matters: About 37% of American adults are in households that struggled to pay for typical expenses between late June and late July, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reported.
- And even in Seattle, the percentage of residents living in poverty has ticked up in recent years.
What they did: To come up with the ranking, Oxfam looked at wage policies, worker protections and the right of workers to unionize.
Zoom in: Washington, Oregon and California are among the top five states in the index and each features some of the strongest minimum wages in the country, provide paid leave and ensure workers have the right to organize in private and public sectors, according to Oxfam.
- In Washington, which has a minimum wage of $16.28 an hour, only about 11% of workers make less than $17 an hour, according to a separate Oxfam report.
- Seattle's minimum wage of $19.97 an hour is even higher than the state's, as are those of several other cities, including SeaTac ($19.71).
Zoom out: On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas observe the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and have "right-to-work" laws that suppress union activity, per Oxfam.
Yes, but: Kaitlyn Henderson, a senior researcher at Oxfam America and the report's author, tells Axios that even Washington's high minimum wage only covers about 36% of the costs of feeding, sheltering and clothing a family of four.
- "No state holds a perfect score, and Washington is no exception," she says.