Federal changes mean state-level data are unavailable Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2025 data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides estimates on income, poverty, housing, health insurance coverage, and the well-being of people nationwide. The CPS is the little sister to the American Community Survey (ACS), considered
Providers can’t recruit enough workers; thousands operate at less than full capacity Many Ohio childcare providers already have room for more children but lack the staff to serve them. Ohio’s General Assembly is considering a bill that would open more seats in childcare centers, a critical step in addressing the
Legislation is ready for a vote Ohio needs more early childhood educators, but providers’ budgets are too tight to offer competitive wages. Ohio legislators can help recruit and retain qualified educators with a new bill, the Workforce Investment Now (WIN) Act, which would pilot a program to provide publicly funded
Part 1 of our 2026 State of Working Ohio report. Part 2: Median Wage > Less than 90 years ago, after years of effort from workers, unions, civil rights activists, and President Franklin Roosevelt, workers received a guaranteed minimum wage through the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).[1] In a speech
Part 2 of our 2026 State of Working Ohio report. < Part 1: Minimum Wage || Part 3: Unemployment Compensation > The median wage is in the exact middle of the pay scale: Half of all workers are paid more, and half are paid less. It’s commonly considered the wage
Part 3 of our 2026 State of Working Ohio report. < Part 2: Median Wage || Part 4: Childcare > Workers and businesses alike have an interest in strengthening Ohio’s unemployment compensation (UC) system. When properly funded and adequately staffed, the UC system allows jobless Ohioans to find jobs that
Part 4 of our 2026 State of Working Ohio report. < Part 3: Unemployment Compensation || Part 5: Paid Family Medical Leave > Childcare is vital infrastructure. It allows parents to participate in the workforce and higher education, supports healthy child development, and enables employers to recruit and train workers.
Part 5 of our 2026 State of Working Ohio report. < Part 4: Childcare At some point in their career, every Ohio worker will need paid family and/or medical leave (PFML), but only a small percentage of Ohio workers have access to PFML programs. PFML refers to a range of
Ohioans are still working for too little in 2026 A full-time job should pay enough to afford the basics, but a new Policy Matters Ohio report finds that nine of the 10 most common Ohio jobs pay less than what it takes to support a small family. The 2026 Still
Still working for too little in 2026 A full-time job should pay enough to afford the basics. But in Ohio, too many employers get away with paying a lot less: Four of the 10 most common occupations[1] in the state paid so little last year that the median worker would
Testimony to the Senate Education Committee on HB 455 Good morning Chair Brenner, Vice Chair Blessing, Ranking Member Ingram, and members of the Senate Education committee. My name is Heather Smith and I am a researcher with Policy Matters Ohio, a non-partisan nonprofit think tank. Thank you for the opportunity
Ohio lawmakers should protect unions instead of attacking them
This piece originally appeared on Cleveland.com on May 17, 2026. Public sector workers across the country — including here in Ohio — are responding to renewed attacks on collective bargaining by organizing their workplaces. Despite an overall decline in union representation statewide, Ohio’s public sector employees ended 2025 with a