Report Highlights Wage Inequality in Boston

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh says dealing with income inequality is a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

BOSTON—A new report commissioned by the city clearly shows that despite low unemployment, Boston is suffering from income inequality that has many families struggling to make ends meet. The new labor report entitled “Boston’s Workforce: An Assessment of Labor Market Outcomes and Opportunities” points out that despite an unemployment rate of 4.3%, a quarter of the city’s fully employed workers and just under half of all labor force participants earn less than $35,000 a year. The median wage of Boston residents, $35,273, has remained the same, in real terms, for nearly three decades. The report was commissioned by the city’s Office of Workforce Development . The OWD partnered with the Boston Redevelopment Authority ‘s research division in producing the report. Boston’s issue with income inequality was highlighted in a report released in January by the Brookings Institute that tagged Boston as the most income-unequal major city in the United States. Despite the city’s emergence as a high tech and financial services hub that has added 10,000 jobs a year since 2010, many of these jobs have been added to low-paying industry sectors that rely heavily on part-time labor. The increase in the city’s part-time jobs, prompted by the 2008 recession, has not subsided with the economic recovery, the BRA-OWD authored report states. “As mayor, I have made confronting income inequality a cornerstone of my citywide economic agenda,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh says. “A first step to effecting meaningful change is to collect good data. This report gives us an early roadmap for expanding access to the city’s prosperity.” Trinh Nguyen , director of the city’s OWD, adds, “These findings underscore the imperative of our mission. We must work to create viable career pathways between disadvantaged workers and living-wage jobs.” The report indicates that the city’s low-income jobs fall disproportionately to people of color, immigrants, and non-native English speakers. The city’s average Hispanic worker earns less than half as much as the city’s average Non-Hispanic White worker. It also pays to commute apparently. BRA researchers found that those who commute to work into the city make 8% more than Boston residents working in the city. The report predicts the importance of education will grow in coming years. By 2022, 41% of Boston jobs are expected to require a bachelor’s degree (compared to 27% nationally), and 36% will be available to those with a high school degree or less (compared to 50% nationally). The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce says it plans to work with the mayor and the Office of Workforce Development to help solve the issue of income inequality in the city. “It is no secret that income inequality is a major and important issue in Greater Boston as it is throughout the country,” says James E. Rooney , president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “Mayor Walsh’s report on our city’s workforce highlights this issue and underscores the need for a long term workforce development plan that addresses the employment needs of all of Boston’s residents.” Whether this report bolsters the mayor’s call for a possible increase in the minimum wage in Boston to $15-an-hour remains to be seen. In the mayor’s State of the City address back in January he said he planned to convene a Task Force to study whether the city should pursue increasing the minimum wage.