IMPACTS OF PREVAILING WAGE POLICIES: Policy Brief

Public policy should be clear about the problem it intends to solve, how it will address the problem, who it helps, and who it leaves behind. Policies should also be data-driven and understood within economic, social, and political contexts. CHPC created the prevailing wage data portal to provide clarity about the challenges, benefits, and trade-offs involved in prevailing wage policies for affordable housing construction.

In its policy brief, CHPC is exploring the impact of prevailing wages on:

• affordable housing production
• construction wages
• worker benefits
• the lowest wage workers
• gender equality
• racial disparities in the workforce
• taxpayer-funded workers

In 2008, CHPC published a report examining the impact of prevailing wage regulations on affordable housing in New York City. The report, called Prevailing Wisdom, scrutinized the implications on housing supply, affordability, government subsidy, racial equity, worker safety and housing quality. In 2019, prevailing wages are once again a central topic in New York City and New York State, so CHPC is taking another look at the latest policy thinking on this topic.