32 percent: The amount Ohio prisons are over capacity. The system is designed to hold about 37,500, but today more than 49,500 people are in Ohio prisons. 350 percent: The amount Ohio’s prison population has grown by since 1980. >40: Studies cited in our new literature review that demonstrate how
Weekend economists on talk radio sometimes praise the sanctity of the “free market.” But some markets work better when states get involved with them. A great example is the child care market. Indulge me in a little Econ 101 refresher. In economics, anything that satisfies a human want is called
Data bonanza: Nerds like us love when the Census updates data. Hannah Halbert looked at the new numbers and found that, despite many good things in the economy, 1.6 million Ohioans—including 500,000 kids – are living in poverty. Census data also show that the number of Ohioans without health insurance,
This edition of eNews is tailor-made for the data wonks in the audience. It features the numbers that drive our work and guide our policy. Plus a couple of cute dogs! * * * <14,000: People incarcerated by the state of Ohio, 1980. >49,000: People incarcerated by the state of
It’s been quiet around our offices since our team of interns started heading out after an amazingly productive summer. They kept the offices humming, conducting research, crunching numbers, and letting us know the coolest places to hang out after work. (Even if some of us weren’t cool enough to go!)
Introduction The United States built its health care system around employer-sponsored health insurance. This approach leaves out many Ohioans and many Americans. In 2016, Ohio employers covered only 5.8 of 11.4 million Ohioans.[1] The public sector covers many people who do not get employer-based coverage. According to the Centers for
Buyer beware: If you want to buy a house but can’t access a traditional mortgage, a land installment contract might look tempting. It’d allow you move in with little money down, and make payments directly to the seller without having to take out a loan. Sure, the seller holds onto
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for progressives in Ohio and across the nation. But let’s not hang our heads. This edition of eNews features nine things we can do—right now—to help build a world we all want to live in. As everyone’s favorite Wobbly songwriter Joe Hill put
Introduction Infants and toddlers in Ohio need high-quality child care. There are nearly 400,000 working mothers in Ohio with children under age six and most use some form of child care when parents are working or for child enrichment purposes. This paper discusses how best to make sure children get
In this policy brief, Policy Matters Ohio examines Ohio’s request to the federal government to drop hundreds of thousands of Ohioans from Medicaid if they cannot get enough work or prove they should be exempt from the state’s newly proposed requirements. Under Governor Kasich’s leadership, Ohio took advantage of the
Rob Moore testifies before the Ohio Senate A great idea in the state Senate: Nearly 900,000 Ohioans still don’t have access to broadband. A new bill moving through the Ohio Senate could reduce that number, committing $50 million a year to build out the state’s broadband infrastructure. Rob Moore testified
Chairman Oelslager, Vice Chair Manning, Ranking Member Skindell, and members of the Senate Finance Committee: My name is Rob Moore and I am a researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research institute with the mission of creating a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable and inclusive Ohio. Thank you
