WHAT IS BUMP?
Bring Up Minimum Pay (BUMP) is an anti-poverty campaign with a clear mission: to pay wages that reflect the true cost of living. We're advocating for a game-changing system overhaul to ensure that nonprofit human services workers in New York are paid the true cost of living for the crucial work they do.
Why BUMP Matters
Current Crisis: 1 in 9 New Yorkers work in the human services sector, which is overwhelmingly made up of women and people of color.
Underlying Issue: Government contracts, the main funding source for nonprofit human services wages, have remained virtually stagnant, even while total private employment wages have grown by 12%.
Maximize COLA: Annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs) are critical. Yet, COLAs alone will not move the workforce out of poverty. To maximize the impact of annualized COLAs, the base wages of workers must reflect the true cost of living and BUMP establishes that floor.
Workforce in Poverty, Servicing Our Community: The very individuals working to alleviate poverty are forced to live in poverty themselves.
Service Shortages: Low wages lead to high turnover and difficulty in recruiting staff, jeopardizing essential services and leaving communities at risk.
BUMP’S BOLD PLAN
Data-Driven Investments: Using research from the City University of New York Institute for State and Local Governance (CUNY ISLG), BUMP has collected a historic statewide economic and demographic landscape of the nonprofit human services sector. With a data informed and geographically nuanced picture of poverty-level wages, lack of wage growth, and the return on investment of a base wage increase, the need for BUMP is inarguable.
Legislative Action: The only way to secure and sustain higher wages that reflect the true cost of living is through legislation.
BUMP’S FUNDERS
Ira W. De Camp Foundation
New York Community Trust
Robin Hood Foundation
Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, Inc.
The Pinkerton Foundation