EPI in the news

• It’s never too early or too late to start retirement planning

  There are a whole host of other variables to consider including determining at what age you want to retire, factoring in the market value of your investments, calculating the effect of inflation, etc. But the key is to start building your nest egg now. Don’t be among the nearly 50% of American families who, according to the Economic Policy Institute in 2018, had no retirement account savings.

  Michigan Chronicle | August 19, 2019
• The $15 minimum wage bill has all but died in the Senate

  The current $7.25 minimum hourly rate was set in 2009, right in the middle of the Great Recession. Since then, America’s lowest-paid workers have lost about $3,000 a year when you consider the rising cost of living, according to calculations from the Economic Policy Institute.

  Another meta-analysis comes in a highly anticipated study published this month in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by economists at the University of Massachusetts, University College London, and the Economic Policy Institute. They studied data from 138 cities and states that raised the minimum pay between 1979 and 2016. The conclusion is that low-wage workers received a 7 percent pay bump after a minimum wage law went into effect, but there was little or no change in employment. The study also showed that it would not cost jobs, even in states with large shares of minimum wage workers.

  VOX | August 19, 2019
• ICE raid rumor causes 200 plus illegal workers to abandon Georgia chicken plant

  Not sure what to do with your extra zucchini squash this season? Consider donating extra produce as part of the University of Idaho’s Extension and 4-H “Grow-a-Row” garden produce donation program. In response to the largest income gap in the nation, rising costs of living, and over 40 percent of Teton County, Idaho working households living with less than the necessary income required to fund the five basic household necessities (housing, child care, food, transportation and health care), our local UI Extension office is working with nonprofit partners to tackle the issue of food access and hunger (United Way, 2018; U.S. Economic Policy Institute, 2018).

  Teton Valley News | August 19, 2019
• Policymakers aim to address 900,000-person Green Card backlog

  “We’re just kind of taking away the pain of some people, spreading it around to more,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that focuses on improving incomes for low-wage workers. According to him, a seven-year to eight-year wait for all nationals after the current backlog being cleared is likely under the Lee and Lofgren bills.

  Sojourners | August 19, 2019
• ‘We were treated like dirt’: A visa program exploits student workers

  The foreign students came for a summer of adventure, invited to the United States for a work experience program, but many did not get the cultural exposure they were expecting. Instead, they saw a grimmer side of American industry: abuse, fraud, and discrimination.

  The Nation | August 19, 2019
• ICE raid rumor causes 200 plus illegal workers to abandon Georgia chicken plant

  Data shows that illegal immigration is especially damaging to the black community. And according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, black unemployment in Georgia is, in fact, over double that of white unemployment, 6.5 percent to 2.7 percent.

  Business & Politics | August 19, 2019
• Wisconsin roundup: FEMA teams survey July storm damage in Polk, Barron counties; more state news stories

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, Wisconsin is the 20th cheapest state for childcare, but it’s also one of 33 states where child-related costs average more than most four-year college degrees. The U.S. Department of Human Services considers a state affordable if it costs seven percent or less of a family’s income to have a child. In Wisconsin it costs more than 18 percent on average.

  RiverTowns.net | August 19, 2019

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