Research

Best and Worst States to Work in the US 2024

The Best States to Work Index, now in its sixth edition, is an index of 27 policies across three themes - wages, worker protections, and rights to organize - for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This index was born in 2018 to analyze which states were stepping into gaps left by federal inaction to protect low wage workers and working families. The report is meant to highlight and celebrate those states seeking to proactively support workers, while encouraging a race to the top for those states at the bottom. The policies tracked in our index are either nonexistent or insufficient at the federal level, so this report is also meant to provide a blueprint for federal policymakers to improve the national landscape for all workers.

Understanding electricity utilities in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of civil society in improving performance, governance, and accountability

Realizing the energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa will necessitate a major role of the electricity utilities in the region. From investing in new generation, to acting as a viable off-taker for privately-owned generators, to building out transmission and distribution infrastructure, to upgrading the grid, to creating a conducive environment for private sector investment; the electricity utilities will be central players. Unfortunately, however, utilities in the region are not in a robust position. Vicious cycles of compromised revenue collection, inefficient capital expenditure and inadequate maintenance spending, result poor service quality, high levels of indebtedness and an inability to borrow the money needed to upgrade the sector. At the heart of these problems are believed to be issues of weak governance.

Despite the centrality of utilities and their generally dire state of affairs, they have not been the focus of civil society social accountability advocacy efforts, and knowledge of their technical workings is generally limited among civil society actors.

Within this context Oxfam has spent 18 months undertaking research intended to inform advocacy on utility governance reform across Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. Further to the country specific work, Oxfam produced a primer on electricity utilities in sub-Saharan Africa, intended as means for bringing newly interested actors up to speed on how to understand and appraise a utility in a specific context. Together this research agenda supports the creation of a network of civil society actors capable of pursuing governance reforms aimed at improving the performance of utilities across the region, to support the energy transition. The four reports can be found below.

The Crisis of Low Wages: Who earns less than $17 an hour in the U.S. in 2024?

According to new data from Oxfam, there are more than 39 million low wage workers in the United States, defined here as any worker earning less than $17 an hour. This translates to 23 percent of the US workforce, or nearly one in four workers in the US. This new research includes a full demographic picture of low wage workers including race, gender, intersecting race & gender, age, parental status, and tipped wage worker status. Our findings demonstrate that women and communities of color, especially Black and Latin or Hispanic workers, are most impacted by low wages and stagnating minimum wage policies. To explore the data, please check out the interactive map.

Care as Essential Infrastructure: Definitions of and debates on care infrastructure from Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, the United States, and Zimbabwe

Drawing on six case studies (Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, the United States, and Zimbabwe), this paper explores the definitions, debates, and demands related to the concept of care infrastructure.

The paper finds the following components of care infrastructure across the case studies: care-supporting physical infrastructure, knowledge production, community networks, national care frameworks and public financing, social protection, and public care services, programs, and regulations. These components of care infrastructure can look different from country to country, based on country-specific factors, including time use related to care, national laws and legal frameworks, and civil society and community mobilization. The existence of different approaches to care infrastructure, even between different stakeholders within countries, highlights the need to consider the local context of any intervention related to care.

The paper also examines the responsibilities of different social actors (communities, civil society, the state, and the private sector) to support care infrastructure, with a focus on the role of the state. Across regions there are significant ongoing debates about the responsibilities of the state supporting and investing in care infrastructure and in advancing care as a right or care as a public good.

Unseen Work, Unmet Needs: Exploring the intersections of gender, race and ethnicity in unpaid care labor and paid labor in the U.S.

Oxfam America and Prosperity Now have embarked on a comprehensive joint research project to explore the dynamics of women’s paid and unpaid labor in the US, particularly for women of color, who are disproportionately affected by the dual impact of paid work and unpaid care responsibilities. This report adopts an intersectional lens to delve into the disparities in unpaid care and the inequities in the paid labor force. The relationship between paid and unpaid labor reveals significant challenges, with many facing systemic barriers in accessing essential support such as workplace flexibility, equitable pay, and affordable care services. Particularly, the interplay of gender and race/ethnicity in this context spotlights the unique and disproportionate challenges women of color encounter in both paid and unpaid labor.

The research focuses on both paid and unpaid labor, shedding light on the often invisible or underappreciated roles women play in the economy. Paid labor is commonly understood and recognized, but unpaid labor, including care work for children and adults, remains largely unseen and unvalued, despite its critical role in the economic and social fabric of our society. This study is rooted in the principles of intersectional feminism and labor economics, recognizing that gender, race, ethnicity, and class are not isolated factors but intersect and interact, influencing the experiences of women in the US labor market.

The study seeks to bring visibility to this work and underscore its significance in economic policy. The urgency of the project is highlighted by the recent social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly affected unpaid care work, altering its distribution among men and women as well as across racial and ethnic groups. The paper also brings in the voices of the people who are holding crucial caregiving roles in their communities so readers can hear from individuals directly. The research team collected testimonials from nurse practitioners, nonprofit workers, public school workers, and psychologists, some of whom have had to leave their jobs to keep up with care responsibilities to highlight the lived experience that exists within the data.

Increasing Civil Society Ownership of National Climate Plans: Lessons drawn from Senegal's NDC experience

The issue of civil society participation in the processes of developing, implementing, and monitoring national climate plans is crucial to ensuring that these ambitions are both acceptable to the populations and, beyond that, that they align with a trajectory of sustainable development beneficial to all actors in Senegalese society.

This case study aims to analyze the degree of involvement through consultations with a variety of civil society actors, as well as members of the administration and international partners active in the fight against climate change. While some believe that civil society participation has progressed

significantly in recent years, the vast majority feel that the level reached is still insufficient.

Barriers to civil society’s appropriation of climate issues include, among others, the lack of representativeness of grassroots organizations and vulnerable groups, as well as the unfamiliarity of civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) with the processes, objectives, and stakeholders of the National Climate Plan (NCP), meaning that many civil society actors are rarely aware of their contribution to its implementation even though they are involved.

The study also shows how limited human and financial resources reduce the possibility of broad participation by civil society organizations, especially outside the capital. This raises the question of a fair, adequate, and targeted allocation of climate financing to meet the ambitions of climate policies in Senegal. This report presents recommendations to overcome barriers that may explain low ownership of national climate plans by communities, in order to propose ways for populations to be key actors in an ambitious ecological transition in Senegal.