EPI in the news

• D.C. Council approves initial vote to repeal Initiative 77, the tipped hourly wage increase

  Ramirez also noted that several studies, including, most recently, a study from the Economic Policy Institute released last month, have shown that tipped workers fare better in cities that have passed “one fair wage” initiatives or laws, and that the restaurant industry in those cities has continued to thrive. “Every study that’s been done to study the effects of an increased minimum wage for tipped workers — EPI, ROC did a study, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute — they’ve all looked at the data and come to the same conclusion: It is beneficial to both workers and business,” she said. “In the age of ‘alternative facts,’ it’s unfortunate that our mayor and elected officials aren’t looking at the real facts to make real policy decisions.”

  Metro Weekly | October 5, 2018
• D.C. Council Repeals Wage Bump for Tipped Workers, Will of Voters Be Damned

  A September report by the Economic Policy Institute used American Community Survey data to analyze the effects of eliminating or beginning to phase out the tip credit in both cities (in Seattle’s case, it used data for the Seattle metropolitan area). The report found that the restaurant sector in both areas continued to grow while take-home earnings for tipped workers actually shot up.

   

  The American Prospect | October 5, 2018
• From Jackson, Wyoming to Hailey, Idaho: America’s most unequal metropolitan areas, revealed

   

  Income inequality in America isn’t just in the elite corners of Manhattan and the rolling beaches of Malibu – it can also be found in remote parts of Idaho and rural pockets of Colorado and Nevada. When broken down by state, the three most unequal parts of the country are predictably in the Northeast: Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. However, when analyzed at a more granular level, researchers at the Economic Policy Institute found inequality spans from America’s Heartland to the Far West – and New York City doesn’t crack the top 10 list for greatest income disparity.

  The Daily Mail | October 1, 2018
• Study: Absenteeism interventions most effective with students who miss the most school

   

  The findings of the Nebraska study, which focused on 12 absenteeism programs used with 1,606 students in 137 schools, also confirm patterns noted in an Economic Policy Institute report released earlier this week. That report showed that Hispanic English learners, Native American and black students were more likely to miss three days of school within one month.

  Education Drive | October 1, 2018
• New Laws Aim to Make Work Hours More Predictable

   

  Roughly 740,000 U.S. workers are covered under new scheduling rules across multiple jurisdictions, according to the Economic Policy Institute, but worker advocates say that millions more are still subject to just-in-time scheduling, where employers, aided by software, control for tight labor budgets by canceling and adding shifts with little notice.

  The Wall Street Journal | September 27, 2018
• One-fifth of 8th-graders were chronically absent in 2015, EPI report says

   

  • A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), “Student absenteeism: Who misses school and how missing school matters for performance,” found that a fifth of 8th-graders (19.2%) were chronically absent in 2015, with no significant rate differences when compared to 4th-graders, and “relatively stable” patterns between 2003 and 2015.

  Absenteeism rates were also significantly impacted by poverty, disability status, race/ethnicity and language status: 26% of students with an individualized education program, 23.2% of free-lunch-eligible students, 17.9% of reduced-price-lunch-eligible students, 24.1% of Hispanic English learners, 24% of Native American students and 23% of black students missed three or more days of school. (whole post)

  Education Drive | September 26, 2018
• Drivers for Uber, Lyft are earning less than half of what they did four years ago, study finds

   

  Taking into account fees as well as other expenses incurred, Uber drivers typically end up earning just $9.21 an hour, a different report published by Lawrence Mishel, a distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C. found. In his research, Mishel said he has found that there has been an increase in the amount of Uber drivers over the course of four years who are driving fewer hours each week. “Driving for Uber has become much more of an ancillary earning activity,” he said citing data from his report which equates eight Uber drivers to one full-time worker.

  MarketWatch | September 25, 2018

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