The state of labor this year is so fraught, so weighted with issues and problems, that a single day of homage and reflection doesn’t seem enough. It’s as if a year or more is needed to engage the issues, challenges, and possibilities facing American workers today. Consider the following:
Some 37.9 million Americans, about 11.6% of the population, live in poverty. But as sociologist Matthew Desmond has noted, about one in three Americans lives in a household with an income of $55,000 per year or less, an income barely enough to cover the rising costs of rent, health care and food. Some 10.2% of American households (13.5 million households) have been food insecure, lacking access at one time or another to an adequately nutritious diet.