Editorial: North Carolina's laborers deserve better than neglect from legislative leaders

CBC Editorial: Monday, Sept. 2, 2024; #8955

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

North Carolina’s legislative leaders have been steadfast in looking after the financial security of the state’s corporations, the well-to-do and not to be left out, themselves of course.

Much of that has been at the cost of, or at least neglect of, those on the lower rungs of the state’s economy.

Not only has the General Assembly leadership’s neglect hurt those individuals but has also cost the state’s economy billions in missed economic activity, according to an insightful report released last week.

The Cost of Inaction – 2024 State of Working North Carolina documents how a poverty-level minimum wage, stingy unemployment insurance, inadequate paid leave, childcare and elderly care funding isn’t just making it even tougher for low-income families, it is keeping money out of the economy that otherwise would be spent on producing and selling products and services.

Taking are of fat cats fills THEIR purses. Taking care of the REAL needs of ALL workers puts money into EVERYONES' pocket. North Carolina needs to do MORE for these workers and stop doing less.

North Carolina is one of just 10 states that maintains the minimum wage – unchanged since 2009 – at $7.25 an hour – the lowest – when adjusted for inflation – it has been since 1956.

In 2013 – two years after the current legislative leadership took control –unemployment insurance payments, the amount of the payments and eligibility requirements were permanently cut – “the most severe cuts ever enacted by any state.”

North Carolina ranks 48th in the nation in percent of jobless workers receiving benefits; 42nd in average weekly benefit (the U.S. average is $458 compared to North Carolina’s $305). The state ranks 44th in duration of benefits (national average is 15.1 weeks while in N.C. it is 9.2 weeks).

It is critical to understand that people receiving unemployment benefits are SPENDING that money to live. They are using it to feed and clothe their families, pay housing costs, take care of health care needs and other basics. That money is going into the economy.

If North Carolina’s benefits were simply at the national average, there would be another $1.6 billion annually pumped into the state’s economy.

Providing decent paid leave for workers, including for medical and parental care, would save lives. A Duke University study found that a 12-week paid family leave program would prevent 26 infant deaths a year in the state. North Carolina, by the way, has one of the worst infant mortality rates in the nation – 11th worst in the nation with 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Four in 10 workers in the state lack paid sick leave – that’s 1.6 million people. The reality is that paid sick leave would SAVE businesses money – $1.7 billion annually.

Having to care for the elderly is, as the Baby Boom generation ages, an especially acute concern. This year one in five people in the state is older than 65. In six years, it is estimated that the number of North Carolinians older than 65 will exceed the childhood population (those younger than 17).

Expanding paid leave for sickness, newborn and elderly care also would help the care economy – those businesses that provide childcare, senior care, long-term care and assisted living services. North Carolina is only now rebounding from the devastating hit childcare services took during the COVID pandemic.

Reliance on supply-side economics, all evidence shows, doesn’t promote growth nor help those at the lower end of the economy. It deepens economic inequality, further enriches the already wealthy and expands government debt.

Instead of focusing solely on policies to benefit corporations and those on the upper rungs of the economic ladder, the leaders of the General Assembly would be wise, as they prepare for the next legislative session, to prepare an economic policy package that embraces the needs of working North Carolinians.

That package should include:

• Increasing the minimum wage to a realistic living wage along with benefits that exceed the poverty level;
• Providing support for the state’s care industries to assure those needed services are available for working families.
• Modernizing the state’s unemployment insurance programs so those who are out of work – and their families -- are truly supported as they seek employment. That includes increasing weekly benefits and restoring the duration those benefits can be received.

The Cost of Inaction – 2024 State of Working North Carolina report offers a good foundation.

These are not what are derisively termed government giveaways. In fact they are economic stimulus that both pumps money into the economy while at the same time giving assistance to those with real need.

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