The Astoria Project survey captures the multi-dimensional impact on a single New York City neighborhood during the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing together economic findings, reflections on health and mental health effects, and new perceptions of risk now enveloping routine daily activities. From professional salaried employees to low-income gig workers, and workers in hospitality to those in health care, the pandemic has taken a toll on the economic, health, and psychological well-being of residents across the borough. The Astoria Project survey identifies the economic and social needs that the city will have to address in order to rebuild after Covid-19 as a more inclusive and equitable place for living, working, and thriving.
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New York City’s retail industry was hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This report examines the job market implications of the pandemic’s upheaval of the retail industry, the unevenness of Covid’s impacts within the sector, and the acceleration of e-commerce and online retailing seen over the past decade.
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This report examines New York City’s app-dispatch driver pay standard and finds that in the first year of the pay standard (pre-pandemic) driver pay increased by about nine percent, passenger fares rose slightly but not much more than in Chicago without a pay standard, passenger wait times declined significantly, and some of the pay increase was absorbed by the app-dispatch companies through lower effective commission rates.
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New York’s antiquated law governing unemployment insurance disincentivizes work and threatens to slow the economic recovery. This report from the CNYCA analyzes the proposed Stirpe-Ramos bill’s reform for New York’s partial unemployment insurance benefits and finds that low- and moderate-income workers would benefit and models several scenarios to show that additional costs to the state’s UI trust fund will be small.
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Nonprofit social services provide essential services for a broad swathe of New Yorkers, yet these organizations face significant workforce retention and recruitment problems. This report from the Center for New York City Affairs outlines concrete steps that can be taken to invest in these essential workers by building robust career ladders, addressing pay disparities among workers, and raising the compensation of nonprofit workers to aid in retention and recruitment. The ongoing public health emergency and economic dislocation make clear the need to invest in social service workers essential not only during emergencies but also day in and day out.
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