These politicians are focused on protecting their wealthy donors, who pay less into Social Security than ever. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently found that as inequality increases, a record share of all earnings are above the $160,200 cap on Social Security contributions.
Nevada Current
April 7, 2023
The company’s spending on anti-union consultants dwarfs that of other companies. Starbucks was the top spender in 2021, shelling out $4.3 million, while the next highest figure came in at less than $2.7 million, according to a new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The Hill
April 7, 2023
High inflation is the obvious culprit for America’s growing debt — but inflation is manageable when income rises along with prices. The problem, according to the Economic Policy Institute, is that wages haven’t increased in any meaningful way for decades.
GO Banking Rates
April 7, 2023
But, a 2023 report from the Economic Policy Institute finds the average annual costs of infant child care in Virginia is over $14,000, equaling over $1,100 a month.
Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
April 7, 2023
Chinese and Indian immigrants who came to the United States after immigration laws loosened in the 1940s and 1950s under visas set aside for “high-skill” workers see close to no wage gap today. Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants who came to the United States as refugees, many of whom were low-wage before moving, face significant gaps. And language matters, too: Indians and Filipinos had access to English education as former British and American colonies and now face fewer barriers, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
The 19th
April 7, 2023
The SLFRF delivered $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments. The money can be spent out until the end of 2026, but it must be obligated (meaning designated for specific purposes) by the end of 2024. An Economic Policy Institute study released last month found that only about 55 percent of the state funds have been obligated, with several states obligating less than 10 percent. Because of the timing of state legislative sessions, some states must figure out how to obligate those funds within the next three months.
The American Prospect
April 7, 2023
In comparison, the latest research by the Economic Policy Institute shows wages have increased by 17% for the average hourly worker. (paywall).
Tampa Bay Business Journal
April 7, 2023
The left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute estimates that a misclassified construction worker, for example, loses out on as much as $16,729 a year in income and job benefits. Misclassified home health aides lose $9,529. Landscapers, truck drivers, nail-salon workers, and janitors are also at high risk of wage theft.
Business Insider
April 7, 2023
Layoffs overall have increased slightly in recent months, but they remain lower than pre-Covid rates, said Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute. “The unemployment rate is still near 50-year lows. Job growth is still very strong,” she said.
VOX
April 7, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, unions play a critical role in increasing wages, improving working conditions and protecting against workplace violations. Labor studies professor Rosemarie Molina, who has had hands-on experience with organizing workers to unionize, said unionization is important to combat workplace violations, which are common in the LA communities she works with.
Daily Bruin
April 7, 2023
Many workers are angry about how little they are paid — and who’s making more, if they can even find out. Chief executives outearn their workers by a ratio of 399 to 1, according to the Economic Policy Institute. A survey by the Pew Research Center found barely one-third of the nation’s employees described themselves as satisfied or very satisfied with their pay, with women and Blacks more likely to say they were unhappy. A 2020 survey by jobs platform Hired found women were offered less money for the same job title at the same company than male peers a majority of the time. And the American tradition of secrecy around remuneration is part of what makes these inequities possible.
The Washington Post
April 7, 2023
About half of private-sector businesses require workers to sign a non-compete agreement, which affects anywhere from 36 million to 60 million employees, according to 2019 data from the Economic Policy Institute. Polling shows a majority of Americans support largely banning the practice.
CT Public Radio
April 7, 2023
(Paywall) Quotes Jen on the victory of Brandon Johnson and the power and influence of organized labor in Chicago.
Crain's Chicago
April 7, 2023
Maryland is one of 30 states and Washington, D.C., that has a minimum wage higher than the federal rate of $7.25 per hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank based in the district.
The Daily Record
April 7, 2023
“There’s just tons of momentum, and once you slow the economy enough to get the unemployment rate moving up, it’s very hard to sort of turn that cruise ship back around,” said Josh Bivens, research director and chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
CNN
April 7, 2023
That would be the highest minimum wage in the country, but compared to Wall Street payouts, this demand is modest. New York City’s 190,800 Wall Street workers earned a combined $33.7 billion in bonuses for their 2022 performance. The Economic Policy Institute has calculated that raising the state’s minimum wage to $21.25 would cost far less — just $9.5 billion.
Inequality.org
April 7, 2023
The goal for price inflation is around 2%. The standard formula for target wage growth, said Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute, is that you add “long-term productivity growth — that’s about 1.5%,” she said. “So anything in the 3.5 range is certainly not going to be driving inflation.”
Marketplace
April 7, 2023
Josh Bivens, the chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, said that while higher unemployment generally curbs wage growth and price pressures, wages “are no guide at all” right now with “the unexpected and weird shocks we’ve had over the past couple of years.”
The New York Times
April 7, 2023
(Paywall) Quotes Jen on the victory of Brandon Johnson and the power and influence of organized labor in Chicago.
Crain's Chicago
April 6, 2023
Union-busting, to borrow from H. Rap Brown, is as American as cherry pie. Employers get charged with violating federal labor law in no fewer than 41.5 percent of all union elections, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute.
The New Republic
March 31, 2023
Colorado educators also make roughly a third less than similarly educated professionals in the state, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank formed to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in policy discussions.
Colorado Springs Gazette
March 31, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute reported earlier this month that “violations of child labor laws and proposals to roll back child labor protections are on the rise across the country,” including bills under consideration to allow young teenagers to work in meatpacking plants.
Current Affairs
March 31, 2023
In the first video, captioned “Sonic sayz worker exploitation is no good,” Sonic relays what Tails has taught him about wage theft to Knuckles, who’s instantly ready to knock people’s heads together. According to Sonic (and the Economic Policy Institute), $50 billion is stolen from workers each year in the US.
The Mary Sue
March 31, 2023
“While I think that the White House is right that their best move is to appoint good people and then have faith in their judgement, I don’t agree with Powell’s recent rate hikes, nor the reasoning behind them,” said Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
The Hill
March 31, 2023
Terri Gerstein is a fellow at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and the Economic Policy Institute. She spent more than 17 years enforcing labor laws in New York State, working in the state attorney general’s office and as a deputy labor commissioner.
New York Times
March 31, 2023
Under Hochul’s proposal, the minimum wage would rise modestly to $16.40 downstate by 2026. The governor’s plan ties the minimum wage to the rate of inflation but caps the increase at 3% in any one year. For the average minimum wage-earning New Yorker working full time, that’s an extra $670 a year starting in 2026, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Gothamist
March 31, 2023
Providers must balance running their business with what parents can afford to pay. The average annual cost of infant care in California is $1,412 a month, according to a 2020 estimate from the Economic Policy Institute. Over a year that’s more than in-state tuition at a 4-year college.
LAist
March 31, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, which advocates for fair pay for low- and middle-income workers, Texas public school teachers get paid 21.5% less than college graduates in other professions.
Newsbreak
March 31, 2023
The average cost of infant care in Nevada is $951 a month, 8.7% less than the average rent, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Care for a 4-year-old is $754 a month.
Nevada Current
March 31, 2023