lauren melodia

Director, Economic & Fiscal Policy @CenterNYC. I'm out of here. Let's connect on Bluesky.

[Arya Sundaram @arya_sundaram]

"Black Employment Not Threatened by Migrants in New York, Study Shows"

The employment rate for U.S.-born New Yorkers is now at a record high.

via @CenterNYC @GregDavidonNY @THECITYNY

https://t.co/3US6LMJ2rg

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

3. There are other factors that contribute to labor market inequality today. For one, occupational & industrial segregation, where not all jobs are of equal quality, points to the need for better labor market standards & protections. This shapes people’s views on the economy. 4/4

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Building off of recent analysis by @paulkrugman & @bencasselman, I did a NYC analysis of labor market indicators and find that the claims that immigrants 'take jobs' from others don't hold water in NYC. There are 3 main takeaways: 1/4 https://t.co/oY29MAgjB1

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

2. While Black and Hispanic workers, regardless of their citizenship status, experience the highest unemployment, non-citizens are the only group to see an increase in unemployment in the past 2 years. 3/4

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

A good friend of mine made these stickers 4 years ago to drum up excitement about the VP candidate at the time, and I dusted the file off this morning thinking....is it time to do a reprint?

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Today is my 1st day in a new role @CenterNYC - as Dir. of Economic & Fiscal Policy. I'm honored to carry fwd our actionable research that centers low-income NYers. I'm excited to create space for new econ research to support movements addressing NYC's most pressing challenges.

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Just in time for final NYS budget negotiations. I spoke w/ @karen_yi on why child care is so expensive: "There's plenty of evidence that it shouldn't be a cost that households have to bear on their own and that there should be concerted effort by the government to fill that gap."

[Gothamist @Gothamist]

Why child care is so expensive in NYC that it's become a crisis

https://t.co/Cy3lTYsSYp

[Empire State Campaign for Child Care @EmpireStateCCC]

Across New York State, child care providers are struggling to keep classrooms open for the children and families they serve. This problem has a solution- and it's a $500 million PERMANENT investment in the child care workforce. The time is now!

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

I have a new piece today explaining how NYS can make steps to address the child care crisis by passing a budget that includes a cost estimation model and a permanent workforce compensation fund, included in the @NYSA_Majority & @NYSenate budget proposals. https://t.co/k0ljUPDpJq

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

A student is currently equating Mayoral cuts to the education budget with disaster capitalism.

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Students testifying at the City Council education budget hearing.

[#JustPay | Human Services Council of New York @HSC_NY]

After years of #JustPay advocacy, City-contracted human services workers will receive over 9% wage increases over the next 3 years. Thank you @NYCMayor @SheenaWrightNYC @AnaJAlmanzar @AWilliamsIsom @NYCSpeakerAdams @JustinBrannan @althea4theBX for listening to our voices!

[ALIGN @ALIGNny]

⏳It's not too late to do right by workers!

“Workers didn’t get their due in today’s one-houses, but it’s not too late to make it right,” said @MooreProgress, ALIGN Executive Director.

Full statement: https://t.co/HiihrUEUaJ

1/

[Center for NYC Affairs @CenterNYC]

New York City ended 2023 with slow job growth; Employment rates surpassed pre-pandemic levels for Black and white (but not Hispanic) workers
https://t.co/ZFFDssXj0e

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

https://t.co/e5VHSsZhWN

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

My latest on NYC's economy: private sector job growth in 2023 slowed to 1.3% (it was 6.1% in 2022). Not all industries grew and this, coupled with long-standing occupational segregation, results in uneven outcomes for different groups. 1/2

https://t.co/0vwlXUbCWC

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

At the end of 2023, the black unemployment rate in NYC was 3x the size of the white unemployment rate. Hispanic New Yorkers still haven't reached their pre-pandemic employment rates. Policy interventions are urgently needed to address these disparities. 2/2

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Here's my testimony at yesterday's NYS legislative hearing on the human services budget. Gov. Hochul's budget includes $0 to address low-wages in the child care sector resulting in a shortage of child care supply. @EmpireStateCCC really commanded the day. https://t.co/4emPV9ZERy

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

The solution to the high price tag of child care is publicly provisioned child care that is universally available. 3/3

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

There's a lot of articles out like this one that point to how child care is more expensive than college. We should actually expect child care to to be more expensive than college or paid education, because it is an extremely labor intensive industry. 1/3
https://t.co/83gJgd4nOY

[lauren melodia @lrmelodia]

Children under 5 need more early care & education staff per classroom than K-12 or college, because of their age. The problem here is not the price tag, its that people cannot afford it. Most people also can't afford K-12 and rely on the U.S.'s free public education system. 2/3