Resource: Fact Sheet

Same work, less pay: The wage gap in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Imagine the uproar if football officials suddenly were to declare touchdowns worth six points for one team but only five points for the other. Many workers both in Alabama and nationwide encounter just that sort of shortfall with every paycheck they receive. Despite decades of steady improvement, sizable earnings gaps remain between women and men and between racial minorities and non-minorities, both in Alabama and nationwide.

This fact sheet examines the history of wage discrimination, the scope of today’s disparities and how an Equal Pay Commission could help Alabama close the gap.

Hard cash: Predatory lending in Alabama

By Stephen Stetson

On busy highways and run-down streets across the state, you can’t miss them — big, bright signs promising easy money. From payday loans to refund anticipation loans to title pawns, Alabamians face a dizzying array of credit services designed to trap consumers in financial quicksand.

This updated fact sheet provides new information on predatory lending in Alabama.

Stuck: Low-wage jobs are holding Alabama back

By Stephen Stetson

No matter what lies ahead for Alabama’s economy, a high school diploma is no longer a ticket for employment. We emphasize this point with students, but we leave underprepared adults in the lurch. And it will require more than just each year’s crop of high school graduates to meet the new economy’s demands. Effective workforce development policies for adults in their most productive years are vital for equipping the current generation of workers with the skills and flexibility to support their families and command a living wage.

A sense of scale: Small businesses in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Lawmakers often debate how a bill would affect small businesses, but no single official definition of “small business” exists. What are small businesses, anyway? How are they taxed in Alabama? And do small businesses survive or fail because of taxes, or do other factors play larger roles?

This fact sheet answers these questions and more.

Big piece of a small pie: Alabama’s tax paradox

By Chris Sanders

If you talk to a low-income Alabamian about the state’s tax system, you’re liable to hear two things. One is a boast that the state has some of the nation’s lowest taxes. The other is a complaint that, nevertheless, the person pays too much in taxes. The statements may sound contradictory, but both are grounded in reality.

This fact sheet examines an Alabama tax paradox: that low-income residents pay so much in taxes even as their state collects comparatively little money for the public services that can help make their lives better.

IDAs: Building assets to break the chains of poverty

By Chris Sanders

With just a small investment in a federally sponsored asset-building strategy known as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), Alabama could help hundreds of low-income workers break the chains of poverty by saving for education, housing or entrepreneurship.

This fact sheet explains how IDAs work, how they’re funded and how Alabama can move forward with this innovative program.

Alabama roadblock: Our public transit gap

By Alabama Arise

Inadequate public transportation keeps thousands of Alabamians from meeting basic needs.More than 50 years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) provides no public transit funding. A 1952 amendment to Alabama’s constitution makes it illegal to use state gas tax and license fee revenuse — a logical source of transit funds — for any purpose other than building and maintaining roads and bridges.

Getting by: The challenge of measuring poverty

By Jim Carnes

Defining poverty is a difficult task. The researcher who developed the poverty threshold called them a measure of “income inadequacy.” That is, they reflect a general agreement about how much is too little to live on, rather than how much is enough.

This fact sheet describes how the government measures poverty and offers an alternative measure called the Self-Sufficiency Standard that better reflects the basic costs of living.