Texas is nation's 7th-worst place to work, anti-poverty group finds

Texas leaders frequently trumpet the state as a great place to do business. However, a new study by a leading anti-poverty group finds that it's among the nation's worst places to earn a paycheck.

The Lone Star State ranked 46th in Oxfam's newest Best and Worst States to Work in the U.S. report, which tracks wages, worker protections and rights to organize for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

With a composite score of just 14.89, Texas beat out just six states, all in the South. Meanwhile, the District of Columbia, Oregon and California claimed the top three spots in respective order.

"The larger implication for the report is for the wellbeing of people and their families," said Kaitlyn Henderson, the senior Oxfam researcher who authored the report. "There's a strong correlation between states' low scores and their rates of poverty, food insecurity and infant mortality."

Oxfam created the annual study in 2018 to analyze which states were stepping into gaps left by federal inaction to protect low wage workers and working families.

Texas political leaders have shown little appetite for creating those kinds of protections, according to Henderson. The state ranked close to the bottom in policies related to wages and worker protections. It also was one of just five states to receive the minimum score of zero when it comes to workers' rights to organize.

For example, Texas isn't among the states that have raised their minimum wage beyond the $7.25-per-hour rate set by the federal government 15 years ago. The state also forbids municipalities from setting their own minimum wages, and its unemployment benefits are too low to cover families' basic living costs.

What's more, the Lone Star State also offers no paid family leave, no sick leave, no fair scheduling protections and no additional protections for federally excluded employees such as domestic workers and farm workers. Additionally, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law last year barring municipalities from requiring water breaks for outdoor workers.

Protections such as paid sick leave and paid family leave hit working women especially, Henderson said, noting that many play the dual role of being their families' caretaker and sole breadwinner.

"Texas really doesn't have very many policies to support women at work, and I think that's worth pointing out," Henderson added. "A lot of these policies appear neutral on their face, but they have serious implications across gender and racial lines."

In addition to maintaining so-called "right-to-work" laws, which suppress union activity, Texas doesn't provide collective bargaining and wage negotiations to teachers, and it doesn't protect workers against wage-theft retaliation.

Oxfam has set up an online interactive map of its data. The organization also maintains an online petition to urge Congress to raise workers and step up worker protections.

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