The State of Working Oregon 2000 by Jeff Thompson Michael Leachman Most Oregonians have benefited from the last few years of economic expansion. Incomes and wages are up, and unemployment has remained relatively low. When examined against the experience of the last three decades, Oregon's current expansion leaves much to be desired. The expansion of the late 1990s failed to overturn many long-term changes in Oregon s economy that have damaged the ability of most working people to benefit fully from economic growth. The report examines trends in wages, income, poverty, hours of work, health insurance coverage, hunger, housing affordability, and tax burdens.
Wages are still lower than during previous expansions.
Moreover, Oregon s working households have had to work additional hours to maintain steady incomes. The poverty rate among working families with children increased substantially over the 1990s, despite increases to Oregon s minimum wage. By the late 1990s, one in seven working families with children in the state lived in poverty. More than one in nine of all working households in Oregon were not always sure of being able to meet their food needs. Growing income inequality has channeled the benefits of economic growth into the hands of fewer and fewer Oregonians.