Since the summer of 2010, EPI has released several reports analyzing and comparing the compensation of public-sector workers to their private-sector peers. Evidence from these reports has shown that, on the whole, public-sector workers earn less than those in the private sector. In reverse chronological order, here is all of EPI’s work on this issue:
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Fastest wage growth over the last four years among historically disadvantaged groups: Low-wage workers’ wages surged after decades of slow growth
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Policies for states and localities to fight oppressive child labor
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Major strike activity increased by 280% in 2023: Many workers still need policies that protect their right to strike
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EPI response to the bipartisan congressional paid leave RFI
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What constitutes a living wage?: A guide to using EPI’s Family Budget Calculator
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The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator: Technical Documentation
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EPI comments on State Department’s proposed rule on the J-1 Au Pair Program
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Workers want unions, but the latest data point to obstacles in their path: Private-sector unionization rose by more than a quarter million in 2023, while unionization in state and local governments fell
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EPI comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement with respect to automotive goods
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EPI comments on DOL’s Retirement Security Rule — Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary
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EPI comments on DHS’s “Modernizing H-1B” proposed rule
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Labor unions and the defense of American democracy: The fight over ballot drop boxes during the 2022 midterm elections
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Using tax policy to restrain CEO pay: Best practices and smart alternatives
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EPI comments on DHS’s proposed rule on “Modernizing H-2 Program Requirements, Oversight, and Worker Protections”
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EPI comments on DOL’s proposed rule on “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States”
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EPI comments on DOL’s proposed overtime rule
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EPI comments on CMS’s proposed rule on minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities
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Paid sick leave access expands with widespread state action: Low-wage workers without access face economic and health insecurity
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Student debt and homeownership barriers in D.C.
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Economic recovery in the Midwest: Challenges and opportunities after the pandemic
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Rooted in racism and economic exploitation: The failed Southern economic development model
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Massachusetts should resist tech company threats and protect rights of rideshare drivers and all workers: Testimony submitted to the Massachusetts House Joint committee on Labor and Workforce Development on House bill 1848
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Teacher pay penalty still looms large: Trends in teacher wages and compensation through 2022
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CEO pay slightly declined in 2022: But it has soared 1,209.2% since 1978 compared with a 15.3% rise in typical workers’ pay
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Testimony prepared for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing on ‘The Impact of Biden’s Open Border on the American Workforce’
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EPI comment regarding DOL’s proposed information collection to update the National Database of Childcare Prices
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What to know about this summer’s strike activity: What’s spurring the rise in labor actions?
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Record-low number of federal wage and hour investigations of farms in 2022: Congress must increase funding for labor standards enforcement to protect farmworkers
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The impact of the Raise the Wage Act of 2023, by congressional district
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Chasing the dream of equity: How policy has shaped racial economic disparities