The latest county census data found Michigan's child poverty rate remains at 19%, and groups advocating for children and families say it is time to raise the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Michigan residents are grappling with inflation, including high prices for food and gasoline, increased costs of child care and other basic needs.

Monique Stanton, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy, said the census figures show now is an important time to put money into working families' hands. She noted nearly every aspect of children's lives improves when their parents are on better financial footing.

"The amount of the tax credit that you get increases based on the number of children that you have, and it's also impacted by what your particular income is," Stanton explained. "In Michigan, we have a rate of only 6% of the federal credit, that's one of the lowest rates across the country. And we have an opportunity to substantially increase the rate."

Stanton noted lawmakers are introducing increases of 20% to 30%. She pointed out children of color have higher poverty rates, roughly two to three times higher than for white children, and the EITC is one strategy to reduce childhood poverty rates equitably.

Matt Gillard, president and CEO of the group Michigan's Children, acknowledged the state has long struggled with high poverty rates for families with children, even before the pandemic. He said because the money from the EITC often goes right back into the local economy, bipartisan groups of lawmakers and the business community are in support.

"Putting this money back into the hands of working families dramatically improves their position and their situation," Gillard emphasized. "And helps them meet the costs of raising children, and helps benefit the lives of those children, but also help helps local economies."

Studies have shown greater access to the EITC leads to lower rates of infant mortality, offsets some racial disparities in the tax system and can even lead to greater earnings for children later in life.

It has been shown to improve test scores, especially for boys, children under 12, Black and Latino children and those with unmarried parents.

Restaurant workers have been fleeing the industry throughout the Great Resignation, with no end in sight.

In order to codify necessities for better working conditions, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United has been working to develop the Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights. The set of rights seeks to provide restaurant workers with livable wages, better access to health care, a safe work environment and participation in governance.

Teo Reyes, chief program officer at Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, believes there's a need for this bill.

"The fundamental impetus for this is for us to bring workers together to build power," Reyes explained. "One of the milestones will be getting these bills introduced at a federal level in Congress, at the state level, and at a municipal level, and then advancing components of those as the opportunity presents itself."

This bill of rights will be introduced to Congress in September. Months of outreach to restaurant workers across the U.S. helped determine what should go into the bill.

New York's own restaurant industry has seen 120,000 people leaving for different jobs, according to a report from the University of California-Berkeley's Food Labor Research Center, due in part to low wages and rising prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In New York City, workers from any sector can see what they are entitled to under the city's Workers Bill of Rights.

Reyes believes the document will need to be updated to reflect the most current needs of restaurant workers. He shared some gripes workers had, providing a clear path on what changes should be made.

"It breeds a lot of unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking and late-night eating," Reyes pointed out. "I'm not as healthy, and I miss large parts of the next day catching up on sleep. I think that restaurants should provide health care and dental care. People complained about rude customers, people complained about scheduling; like two weeks' notice to schedule even in a small business."

Not all the survey's answers were negative. Many of those surveyed praised their co-workers, and others felt it could be a highly lucrative industry, something Reyes hopes to maintain through establishing the bill of rights.

Too many Latinos are stuck in low-wage occupations, according to a new report, and some with darker skin face discrimination and an even steeper climb to the middle class.

Statistics show that about one-third of Nevada's population is Latino.

Jessica Vela, research assistant in tax and budget policy at the Center for American Progress, said many Latino workers, particularly those of Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran descent, toil in low-paying industries such as hospitality or caregiving that are rife with labor violations.

"Hispanic and Latino workers make up a large part of the tipped worker population," she said. "Latinos are 17% of the overall workforce, but represent 24% of tipped employees."

The report noted that tipped workers often make sub-minimum wages, are at the mercy of the economy and were laid off by the millions during the pandemic. It also found that Hispanic men had the highest unemployment rate during COVID, followed by Hispanic women.

Vela noted that home care is one of the most common occupations for Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Salvadoran and Dominican women. She contended that all states should step in to require better working conditions.

"California signed a statewide agreement with Childcare Providers United to increase wage rates," she said. "They subsidized child-care slots, which can be incredibly helpful with many families needing to work."

Advocates are calling for a higher federal minimum wage and more grants to help people afford to go to college or a trade school. A report from Georgetown University found that Latinos make up about 37% of Nevada's college-age population but only about 29% of students at four-year colleges and 36% at community colleges.


Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

It has been about three years since workers at Chipotle restaurants in New York City started their effort to unionize, and it hasn't happened yet.

Lawsuits were filed by the city against the restaurant chain in 2019 and in 2021, alleging violations of New York's Fair Workweek Law in creating more predictable work schedules.

The company was fined more than $150 million.

Jeremy Espinal, labor organizer for 32BJ SEIU, said the efforts to unionize continue to be hampered by misinformation.

"We've seen workers where we reach out to them, and they have a very negative experience with us; where they try to run away, or they'll yell at us that they're not interested in talking to us," Espinal noted. "And a lot of that comes from fear of not knowing. They don't know who we are, they don't know what we're trying to talk to them about, or they've been scared by the company already."

Espinal, who used to work at Chipotle, said other recent, successful efforts to organize at chains like Starbucks have revived the conversation about the potential benefits of being part of a union. But he acknowledged it is tough when a company pushes back, not only locally, but nationally.

The formal vote on establishing a union may have stalled, but Espinal emphasized he knows what needs to take place in order to move forward.

"Workers coming together, workers showing their strength to the company, workers showing their value to the company," Espinal stressed. "I think definitely, it has to come from the workers, because obviously, a union is made up of workers, and it's as strong as the workers as a whole."

New York is one of a handful of cities with so-called "predictive scheduling" laws, allowing workers to plan their schedules and have some idea of what they will be paid. A few states have passed laws restricting them.