Skip to main content
Cornell University mobile logo

The Worker Institute publishes its research and analysis in reports, policy briefs and articles highlighted below. Explore our research on themes of Low Wage and Precarious Work, Equity at Work, and the Future of Care Work here. For more on these initiatives, visit the Research page.

Assessing the Impact of Prevailing Wage Benefits on Workers, Contractors, and the New York City Economy

This research report illustrates how PW laws might make union construction labor more cost effective than non-union construction labor for PW jobs.
PW image
Assessing the Impact of Prevailing Wage Benefits on Workers, Contractors, and the New York City Economy

Unpaid Care Work and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

To explore current patterns of unpaid caregiving and its impact on New Yorkers’ paid employment, the Worker Institute has published a policy brief sharing relevant findings from the 2022 Empire State Poll, carried out by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).
home care worker
Unpaid Care Work and Its Impact on New Yorkers' Paid Employment

Equity in Focus: Job Creation for a Just Society

This report explores these themes and discusses how policymakers, practitioners, and advocates are addressing the inequities in three sectors: the child care economy, the clean energy economy, and the construction trades, as presented in the Equity in focus—Job Creation for a Just Society series.
Women working during the pandemic
Equity in Focus: Job Creation for a Just Society

Diminishing NYS Public Mental Health Sector

This report explores the effects that privatization and austerity have had on mental healthcare capacity in NYS & the employment & wages of public sector mental health workers. Research finds that the public sector mental healthcare workforce & the state’s mental healthcare capacity have decreased significantly between 1990 & 2021.
PEF Report Image
Diminishing NYS Public Mental Health Sector

The Impact of Sexual Harassment and Gendered Violence on Workers in New York State

Workplace sexual harassment and violence have been put under the spotlight during the past five years, heightening public awareness of how pervasive these issues are. Amid this increased attention, policymakers, employers, and unions continue to grapple with the question of how to effectively respond.
Stop Sexual Harass. in NYS image
The Impact of Sexual Harassment and Gendered Violence on Workers in New York State

Pricing Standards

The ILR Worker Institute released a report in April 2022 entitled Unvarnished: Precarity and Poor Working Conditions for Nail Salon Workers in New York State that detailed the poor working conditions and low wages that nail salon workers in New York State face.
Wage Salon
Pricing Standards