Media clips

• Is Remote Work Contributing to Higher Inflation?

  On the other hand, the Economic Policy Institute says that between 1979 and 2019, while net productivity increased by close to 60%, worker compensation only grew by about 16%. Additionally, wage inflation this year has still not kept pace with the rise in inflation, so perhaps compensation is simply catching up to productivity right now.

  Lincoln Journal Star September 16, 2022
• Analysis Shows ‘Quiet Fleecing’ of US Workers—Not ‘Quiet Quitting’—Is the Real Problem

  “Quiet quitting”—an allegedly new trend characterized by workers performing only their required job duties and no more—has been getting a lot of attention in recent weeks, but the defining trend of the past 40 years of U.S. economic history is “quiet fleecing,” and we should be talking much more about it.

  “The reality is workers have long been going ‘above and beyond’ and not getting paid for it.”

  That’s the argument put forth Friday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive think tank with a long track record of popularizing research on wage suppression and runaway inequality.

  “Everyone’s obsessed with a post-pandemic phenomenon called ‘quiet quitting,’” EPI wrote in an email. “It’s basically defined as workers just doing the basic requirements of their jobs and not going ‘above and beyond.’”

  “But the reality is workers have long been going ‘above and beyond’ and not getting paid for it,” EPI continued. “We’re calling this phenomenon ‘quiet fleecing.’”

  Common Dreams September 16, 2022
• September 16, 2022
  September 16, 2022
• The child poverty rate fell by nearly half in 2021 as enhanced child tax credit sent billions of dollars to families

  “Though there were more jobs in 2022, families were certainly more squeezed by rising prices,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “And so the disappearance of this child tax credit would have hurt more.”

  CNN September 16, 2022
• Worker Power Is Weakening, Indicators Show

  1. DOWN: Inflation-adjusted wages and salaries. Although wages are up, prices are rising faster. Between August 2021 to August 2022. While private-sector workers’ earnings rose by 4.6%, inflation shot up by 8%. In 12 of 13 sectors I studied, workers’ raises failed to keep up with price increases (the exception was mining; not even construction and leisure and hospitality kept pace with inflation). It is not plausible that worker bargaining power is causing price increases. Josh Bivens, research director of the Economic Policy Institute, argues, “labor costs are dampening—not amplifying—price pressures.” In other words, workers’ rising wages have alleviated rather than exacerbated inflation.

  Here’s a little more context: since 1979, U.S. wages adjusted for inflation have stagnated compared to the rest of the G7 nations, as well as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. There has also been meager improvement for American workers in other measures such as total compensation and working conditions. The increasing automation of tasks may lead to new kinds of stress and injuries, research suggests. The Economic Policy Institute has dubbed employers’ ability to intensify the working hour and day without increasing pay as “quiet fleecing.”

  4. DOWN: Wages are not keeping pace with worker productivity. Since the Economic Policy Institute published the famous alligator graph in the 1980s, with the wide jaws of productivity going up and wages going down, workers have been giving more to the economy than they have been getting. This is the “quiet fleecing” mentioned above.

  September 14, 2022
• Most U.S. workers say their pay isn’t keeping up with inflation

  Not surprisingly, surging prices have hit lower-paid workers especially hard. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 buys less today than it has at any point over the past 66 years, an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute shows. The current value of the minimum wage in real dollars is at its lowest level since February 1956, when the lowest U.S. wage was 75 cents — the equivalent of $7.19 in June 2022 dollars.

  CBS September 14, 2022
• Workers at Amazon, Chipotle, and Starbucks are winning union elections. But it might take years before they see a contract

  It takes unions an average of 409 days to negotiate a contract, according to a study conducted by Bloomberg Law. And just under half of newly formed unions reach a contract before the one year decertification deadline, according to a study from the Economic Policy Institute. PAYWALL

   
  Fortune September 14, 2022
• These states are raising their minimum wage based on today’s CPI report as inflation remains stubbornly high

  Dave Kamper, a senior state policy coordinator at the Economic Policy Institute, told Fortune that the automatic minimum wage adjustments help low-wage workers in certain states keep up with inflation. 

  “This is what indexing the minimum wage does: It means that the lowest-wage workers don’t have to wait for a legislature to get its act together and raise the minimum wage for them to keep up,” he said. “Prices are up this year, considerably higher than what we’ve been used to for a long time, and low-wage workers are going to suffer from that more than anyone else.” 

  Kamper said the other five states, and D.C., that don’t use August’s CPI report will still see an increase in minimum wage but at various times throughout the year. Also, he said, more states are likely to begin indexing their minimum wage based on inflation because wages are growing slower than prices. 

  “What we’re seeing here is that as prices go up, worker wages are falling behind,” he said. 

  Nonetheless, Kamper thinks it should be a federal policy that the federal minimum wage be tied to inflation. It allows for predictability and stability for workers, and it gives them the ability to keep up with inflation as the costs of goods soar, he said.

  “Indexing the minimum wage means the state’s minimum wage is protected from prevailing changes in the political winds,” Kamper added. 

  Fortune September 14, 2022
• Florida has a problem with minimum wage violations and it could get worse

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, Florida is one of just a handful of states nationwide that lacks a state labor department, which — prior to its abolition — had tracked workforce statistics, housed a hotline for workers to learn about their rights, and had served as a mechanism for enforcing wage and hour laws.

  88.5 WMNF September 14, 2022
• Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill to Ban Anti-Union “Right-to-Work” Laws

  As a press release on the bill points out, “right-to-work” laws result in 5 percent lower union rates and a decrease in overall wages for full-time workers of about $11,000 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Truthout September 12, 2022
• Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill to Bolster Union Power

  Several studies have found that worker wages suffer in right-to-work states. A 2011 Economic Policy Institute (EPI) paper found that wages in these states were 3.1 percent lower, after controlling for outside economic factors, like higher cost of living in some states. A study from EPI five years later found that the decline in union power in the US was tied to a decrease in wages of up to 8 percent. A analysis from Rep. Sherman’s office found that in 2020, annual wages in right-to-work states were about $11,000 less on average than in states that don’t have this kind of union-weakening legislation.

  Mother Jones September 12, 2022
• Media Summon Inflation Specter to Oppose Student Debt Forgiveness

  On top of this, the central argument in Goldwien’s case and across corporate media—that debt relief will spur demand—rests on the assumption that canceling people’s debt will incentivize them to buy things for which there is not enough supply to keep prices stable. Heidi Shierholtz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, took to Twitter (5/12/22) to shut this argument down:

  The latest version of the claim “we can’t have nice things because inflation” is the idea that we can’t cancel federal student debt.… But folks, there is currently a pause on federal student loan repayments, which means that people with this debt don’t currently have debt payments. So even if somebody’s debt is entirely canceled under a new policy, their monthly costs won’t decrease relative to what they currently are. This will dramatically limit any impact on new spending and hence provide no upward inflation pressure relative to the status quo.

  FAIR September 12, 2022
• BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says a return to office will solve inflation. Maybe in a different era he’d be right

  Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, told Fortune back in May that a close look at GDP numbers actually shows… [PAYWALL]

  Fortune September 12, 2022
• The squeeze is on renters everywhere

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 46 percent of renters nationwide are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing. 

  The home ownership rate in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 65.5 percent. Partially because apartment rentals in New York City are so widespread, home ownership in New York State is only 53.6 percent.

  Hudson Valley One September 12, 2022
• Is Remote Work Contributing to Higher Inflation?

  On the other hand, the Economic Policy Institute says that between 1979 and 2019, while net productivity increased by close to 60%, worker compensation only grew by about 16%. Additionally, wage inflation this year has still not kept pace with the rise in inflation, so perhaps compensation is simply catching up to productivity right now.

  Lincoln Journal Star September 12, 2022
• Analysis Shows ‘Quiet Fleecing’ of US Workers—Not ‘Quiet Quitting’—Is the Real Problem

  “Quiet quitting”—an allegedly new trend characterized by workers performing only their required job duties and no more—has been getting a lot of attention in recent weeks, but the defining trend of the past 40 years of U.S. economic history is “quiet fleecing,” and we should be talking much more about it.

  “The reality is workers have long been going ‘above and beyond’ and not getting paid for it.”

  That’s the argument put forth Friday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive think tank with a long track record of popularizing research on wage suppression and runaway inequality.

  “Everyone’s obsessed with a post-pandemic phenomenon called ‘quiet quitting,’” EPI wrote in an email. “It’s basically defined as workers just doing the basic requirements of their jobs and not going ‘above and beyond.’”

  “But the reality is workers have long been going ‘above and beyond’ and not getting paid for it,” EPI continued. “We’re calling this phenomenon ‘quiet fleecing.’”

  Common Dreams September 12, 2022
• This Charlotte nonprofit wants to help college grads of color beat the odds Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article264647614.html#storylink=cpy

  That holds true as recently as 2019, when an Economic Policy Institute study found that Black workers in the U.S. overall had double the likelihood of experiencing unemployment, though the gap for college-educated workers was smaller.

  Charlotte Observer September 9, 2022
• Layoffs in these industries may be down to record lows

  Additionally, Stacker spoke with Elise Gould, Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute, to get more insights into the economy. She helped provide information as to why layoffs are now at record lows.

  Stacker September 9, 2022
• A Japanese Philosophy for the Quiet-Quitting Generation

  In Western profit-driven, shareholder-first companies, the compact between management and workers has long since broken down. Chief executive pay is up 1,300% since 1978, and is now 351 times higher than a typical worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Disengagement seems a natural consequence. 

   
  Bloomberg (via Washington Post) September 9, 2022
• A $15 minimum wage would take 7.6 million people out of poverty, according to a new study

  “It is very frustrating to me that Congress and many state legislatures — but not all — have effectively abandoned their commitment to paying decent wages,” Ben Zipperer, an economist specializing in the minimum wage and low-wage labor markets at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, previously told Insider.

  Business Insider September 9, 2022
• California school district asks parents to house teachers as costs surge

  Teacher salaries have remained stagnant across the country since 1996, and a report from the Economic Policy Institute shows California teachers were paid 17% less than comparable college-educated workers last year.

  The Hill September 9, 2022
• How Scientology Exploits Foreign Workers The church has used an obscure visa to bring in thousands of laborers — and benefit from their toil.

  “That’s just insane,” says Kent Williams, a litigator known for successfully representing hundreds of workers in a wage-theft lawsuit against Chipotle. “Prisoners make more than that.” How much value Scientology derived from immigrant workers is a matter of conjecture, relying on a significant number of variables: how many hours per week they worked, for how many years, at what nominal pay, and so on. But labor lawyers specializing in wage-theft cases do attempt to make such calculations. Four of these experts (Nicole Hallett, the director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School; Daniel Costa, the director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute; David Cooper, the director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at EPI; and Williams) agreed that based on estimates provided by former Scientologists, CIS data, and tax documents obtained by sources, over the past 30 years Scientology’s use of foreign workers has probably saved the church hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially more than $1 billion.

   
  New York Magazine September 9, 2022
• While Campaigning on “Parental Control,” Top State Officials Champion School Vouchers

  Fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have voucher programs (six have educational savings accounts and nineteen have tax-credit scholarships), the oldest being one in Milwaukee. The program there began in 1990 and has expanded around the state, with less than 5 percent of Wisconsin students participating. In 2007, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, found that “it is still not possible to measure whether voucher students in Milwaukee perform better or worse than their counterparts who remain in public schools.”

  Texas Monthly September 9, 2022
• Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to stay $7.25 while neighboring states see increases in January

  “It has not been this low in value since February 1956, since the time Elvis Pressley had his first number one hit, Heartbreak Hotel, February 1956,” said Dave Kamper with the Economic Policy Institute. 

  “There is no place in this country where you can meet the standard of living of an adult and a child on a minimum wage job in this country. None,” Kamper said.    

  “Real wages for workers, which is what a worker’s wages is actually worth in terms of what they can buy, have fallen through the pandemic rather than actually gone up. Indexing minimum wage to inflation is a way to make up for that,” said Kamper. 

   

  CBS September 9, 2022
• A COVID-19 testing startup with ‘no history of success’ faces lawsuit over accuracy claims

  While millions of Americans lost jobs during the pandemic, the payouts to leaders at the three publicly traded Utah firms (Domo, Qualtrics and Co-Diagnostics) outpaced the nearly 19% jump in compensation to CEOs during the pandemic, according to research from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. 

  USA Today September 9, 2022
• State and Local Jobs May Take Until 2026 to Recoup Pandemic Losses

  For Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute, part of the challenge for local governments involves raising the appeal of public-sector employment, whether it’s by enhancing benefits, improving working conditions or boosting salaries.

  Bloomberg September 9, 2022
• For Sen. Sherrod Brown, ‘dignity of work’ is essential to life

  Brown, Walsh, and Valerie Wilson, director of the Race, Ethnicity and the Economy Program at the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, hit those themes in their interviews. Brown plans to pursue them legislatively if he returns to the panel’s top job after the November election, assuming Democrats hold the Senate this fall.

  Walsh made many of the same points. Both EPI’s Wilson and Walsh, a Laborers Local 223 member, emphasized such measures must reach those who have been left out and left behind, even in the current fast recovery from the coronavirus-caused depression.

  The anti-coronavirus laws Biden, Brown and Walsh pushed through “create a pathway to middle-class jobs, especially for workers of color” and people with disabilities, the Labor Secretary said. They need it, Wilson added.

  And DOL now will award job creation grants “and make sure we measure the outcomes” for those hardest-hit workers, the secretary promised.

  The worst damage from the pandemic was to Black woman workers, Wilson elaborated. They got hit two ways. Many of the occupations they were forced into, and which already were low-paying, such as home health care and restaurant servers, suffered the worst job losses. And even if jobs remained, the pandemic-caused national closure of schools forced thousands of working women to reluctantly quit, to take care of their own kids.

  “This continues to be a problem and a challenge,” Wilson said of the future facing those working women. “And it’s due to the larger structural problems” in the economy and society, she added—a polite way, though she didn’t say so, of endemic structural racism.

  People's Weekly World September 9, 2022
• What the number of involuntary part-time workers tells us about the economy

  The measure of involuntary part-time employment gives us a sense of how much slack or unmet potential is in the labor market, per Elise Gould, senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute.

  “When that number is lower” — like it’s been in the last couple of years — “it means that there are more opportunities and fewer people are scrambling to get additional hours,” Gould said.

  That’s good news for workers, who have lots of options and additional leverage vis-a-vis employers, Gould said.

  Marketplace September 9, 2022
• Transcript: Future of Work: Economic Mobility
  Washington Post deputy business editor Damian Paletta speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), David Madland, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Valerie Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, about the economic drivers and disparities that impact mobility in the labor market. Conversation recorded on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.

  See article for full transcript of Valerie’s comments.

  The Washington Post September 9, 2022
• Five Financial Tips for Incoming College Students

  Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She’s the co-author of “Rescuing Retirement” and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.

  Bloomberg September 9, 2022