Author

Michael Shields
Michael Shields is a researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. His work focuses on the labor market and job quality. He writes about wages, overtime, wage theft, workers’ compensation, manufacturing, and collateral sanctions.
Let’s celebrate working people by unrigging the economy
By: Hannah Halbert and Michael Shields - September 7, 2020
This Labor Day will be different. If they happen at all, most parades and cookouts will be smaller and socially distanced. One way we’ll celebrate, though, is by reflecting on the incredible acts of selflessness and generosity performed by Ohio’s working people during this pandemic — from the ICU nurse in Cleveland tending to a […]
1-in-3 working Ohio women would benefit from raising the minimum wage. So would 1-in-5 men.
By: Michael Shields - February 7, 2020
Everyone who works for a living should earn enough to cover the basics and keep their family stable and healthy, no matter what job they do. But Ohio’s minimum wage falls $3,600 short of the poverty level for a family of three and is worth 28% less than the minimum wage of our grandparents’ generation. […]
Ohio’s coming minimum wage increase still falls far below 1968 state and national peak
By: Michael Shields - December 5, 2019
Everyone who works full time deserves to make enough money to cover the basics. In Ohio, too many people work hard — sometimes in more than one job — but still live in poverty. Because Ohio voters took action, at least those earning the minimum wage won’t get a pay cut from inflation in 2020. […]