New report from the NC Justice Center shows N.C. losing billions each year through lack of action on workplace policies

RALEIGH (August 29, 2024) – Today, the North Carolina Justice Center released “The Cost of Inaction—2024 State of Working North Carolina.” The report tallies a staggering amount of economic losses—tens of billions of dollars yearly—due to lawmakers’ failure to act on wages, paid leave, childcare and elder care funding, and unemployment insurance improvements.

Working people are the drivers of the economy, say the report’s authors. They recommend that North Carolina leaders make the necessary investments to meet the needs of working people, grow the state’s economy, and reap the many benefits of good workplace policy.

The report outlines the cost to the North Carolina’s economy each year:

• By not setting a minimum wage of at least $15 per hour, North Carolina misses out on nearly $4.5 billion per year that could be circulating in the state’s economy and creating greater security for working people and their families.
• By maintaining an Unemployment Insurance program that provides benefits well below the national average, North Carolina misses out on another $1.6 billion annually in economic activity.
• Not having paid sick days costs businesses in North Carolina roughly $1.7 billion per year due to lost productivity and the increased occurrence of illness.
• The lack of investment in North Carolina’s childcare system costs parents, businesses, and taxpayers an estimated $3.5 billion per year.
• The low rate of women’s labor force participation, driven by a lack of paid family and medical leave, affordable childcare and other crucial policies, costs North Carolina approximately $23 billion in economic output each year.

The report also explores the human costs of inaction for working people—working while homeless due to low wages, leaving a job to care for a family member because there are no affordable care options available, or being forced to take a low-quality job due to inadequate unemployment benefits.

Christine Robinson of Raleigh has spent over 40 years as a Certified Nursing Assistant and deals daily with the impacts of stagnant wages and increased living costs.

“I’m homeless now because I don’t make enough money to pay for rent,” said Robinson. “Right now, a burger costs more than what I make an hour.”

The NC Justice Center’s report comes on the heels of Oxfam America’s newly released “Best & Worst States to Work Index,” where North Carolina has once more ranked as the worst state in the country for working people.

Ana Pardo, Co-Director of the NC Justice Center’s Workers’ Rights Project, says the low ranking is largely due to the policy gaps analyzed in the report.

“For the past decade, North Carolina policymakers have claimed that the cost of implementing these beneficial workplace policies is too high, but our research has uncovered that the cost of inaction is significantly higher,” said Pardo. “Lawmakers are leaving billions of dollars on the table that could make our families—and our economy—more secure.”

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