EPI in the news

• Fox 2 News

  From the time China was brought into the WTO in 2001 until Donald Trump’s election, Michigan lost almost 90,000 manufacturing jobs to China. That’s according to the Economic Policy Institute, which is actually a left wing think tank. When President Trump ran in Michigan, he said we won’t close one auto plant, well, that’s not been true, and in fact, even before the pandemic we were losing manufacturing jobs, and it’s been compounded. It’s the crazy chaos with the tariffs and the trade war. 

  WJBK-TV (Detroit) | October 27, 2020
• COVID-19 is a nightmare for working moms. Policymakers must react

  Think about child care, for instance: Even in the best of times, finding flexible, reliable and affordable care is difficult. The cost alone is daunting: A report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that full-time infant care ranges from about $5,500 a year in Mississippi to an astonishing $24,000 in Washington, D.C. When families crunch the numbers, some discover that daycare or babysitters eat up much, if not all, of one person’s salary. And often women—who still make on average just 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man—are the ones to call it quits.

  Newsweek | October 27, 2020
• Punching In: Gig companies want ‘safe harbor’ in contractor rule

  An analysis from the Economic Policy Institute will reinforce those legal arguments. It estimates the rule will lead to $3.7 billion per year transferred from workers to businesses, based on an estimate that the rule would spur 5% growth in use of independent contractors, which EPI economist Heidi Shierholz described as a conservative figure.

  Bloomberg Law | October 27, 2020
• Head-to-head: Iowa House candidates in the Cedar Valley

  There is something wrong when a person working full time on minimum wage doesn’t make enough money to take care of themselves or their family. According to the Economic Policy Institute, women, full time workers, and people over age 20 would be helped most by an increase in the minimum wage. If an increase in the minimum wage is not the answer, we must work together to find an alternative to lift full-time workers out of poverty and address the disparities that exist today.

  Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier | October 27, 2020
• How to apply for unemployment benefits — and get as much money as possible

  During the pandemic, people have had to wait much longer due to the sheer numbers of applicants. In the early months, unemployment websites crashed and people couldn’t get their calls to unemployment offices through. In April, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that millions of people weren’t able to file a UI claim at all.

  Money | October 27, 2020
• Stolen land

  According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, people that start life with little or no wealth are often trapped at the bottom of wealth distribution for their entire lives. When you look at that data broken down by race, it shows more than half of white families end up with more wealth than their parents, while only 23 percent of Black families are able to do the same.

  WFTV | October 27, 2020
• Collapse of three-legged stool threatens retirement security

  While the total amount of assets saving in retirement plans is substantial — 401(k) assets totaled $6.3 trillion as of June, according to the Investment Company Institute — the amounts saved by individual vary dramatically. Manny high-income earners, who typically work with financial advisers, have saved hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. However, the median amount of retirement account savings held by families ages 56 to 61 was just $21,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Investment News | October 27, 2020

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