Trump gives another example of wage theft

At the first presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump revealed an important truth about work in America.

Sparring over Hillary Clinton's attack over his failure to pay an architect for a project, Trump claimed he was being a good businessman, revealing that "wage theft" is central to his business model, and most importantly, reminding us that wage theft is all too common in the U.S.

Wage theft is a term used to describe violations of wage and hour laws and breaches of contract. Evidence of wage theft abounds. Researchers with the Economic Policy Institute found that U.S. workers recovered at least $933 million in wage-and-hour lawsuits and administrative rulings in 2012 - more than the total amount lost in reported robberies that same year.

Closer to home, in 2009, researchers at UIC estimated that low-wage workers in Cook County lose approximately $7.3 million per week to wage theft.

Our research indicates that for every dollar of wage theft reported to the Illinois Department of Labor, there's an additional 37 cents of income lost across the Illinois economy.

Interviews with low-wage workers effected by wage theft reveal high levels of depression, thoughts of suicide and coping mechanisms, including skipping meals so children could eat or squatting in abandoned housing.

Efforts in Chicago and nationwide to stem the tide of wage theft continue. Research shows that states that institute higher penalties for wage theft and strengthen enforcement reduce the prevalence of wage theft.

What Donald Trump revealed in the first debate is that wage theft is still too common and its eradication needs to be a policy priority.

Jacob Lesniewski, Assistant Professor

Graduate School of Social Work

Dominican University

River Forest