March 26, 2014

by Jennifer Tran and Sarah Treuhaft
PolicyLink

Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).

Minnesota’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model is a joint report from PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) which documents the costs of racial inequities and the work under way to address these disparities in the state.

The report addresses three key topics:

Minnesota’s demographic transformation, describing current and future demographic shifts;
-How racial and economic inclusion will help Minnesota grow and compete, explaining why equity matters for all Minnesotans;
-How to implement equitable growth in Minnesota through policy priorities that achieve shared prosperity;
-One key finding of the report is that Minnesota’s gross domestic product would have been $16.4 billion higher in 2011 if there had been no racial gaps in income.

Recent and projected demographic shifts in the state mean that people of color are growing as a share of the workforce and population, and in Minnesota racial gaps in income, poverty, employment, education, wealth and health are unusually high and persistent.

For example, the report states that in 1980, just 4 percent of Minnesotans were people of color. Today that figure is 17 percent, and by 2040 it is projected to be 29 percent.

Minnesota’s Tomorrow offers examples of work currently under way across the state to dismantle racial barriers and expand economic opportunities. It also presents an equitable growth policy agenda focused on growing good jobs, preparing workers for the jobs of tomorrow.

Addressing equity today builds Minnesota’s tomorrow, and the report reveals how this is happening now.

Download

Fact Sheet
Full Report

Read our other publications by research area

    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

    Publications Directory

    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

    a view of the Los Angeles skyline