And as calls for better pay amplify among teacher union strikes and educator surveys, a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found teachers’ weekly wages and total compensation worsened over time compared to college-educated professionals who didn’t teach. Public school teachers’ average weekly wages increased by only $29 from 1996 to 2021 when adjusted only for inflation, while the weekly wages of other college graduates rose by $445 in that same period.
K-12 Dive
September 30, 2022
The following is from the Economic Policy Institute. NOTE: In Washington state, voters have required the state minimum wage be adjusted annually for inflation. The state will soon announce the minimum wage for 2023.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 26, 2022) — There are two main debates about what to do about inflation. One is mostly good-faith (if highly contested): it concerns the actions of the Federal Reserve. Another is mostly bad-faith: it uses the existence of elevated inflation as a cudgel against any progressive policy change and as a justification for long-standing ideological priorities. This is most visible in fiscal policy debates, with some people claiming simultaneously that spending must be restrained (a contractionary move in fiscal policy), but taxes must be cut (an expansionary move).
FULL TEXT OF JOSH’S BLOG
The Stand
September 30, 2022
That reaction to a child’s interest in sharing ice cream echoes current economic reality. The US Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a report in 2018 that compiled income trends from 1917-2015.
A 2015 study by the US Economic Policy Institute reported the top 1% of Tennesseans earned 17.8% of the state’s income. To be in the top 1% in 2015, a Tennessean needed to earn at least $332,913. The average income that year was $44,219.
According to the EPI study, the average 1% “top dog” had 26.3 times the average yearly income of all the other pack members who may have worked like dogs but who earned much less.
This same EPI study reported that the top 1% of Tennesseans took home 17.8% of all our state’s income in 2015. The average income of the Tennessee one percenters was $947,021 and the average income for all the rest was $44,219, a ratio of 21.4 in favor of the top very few. To be in the top 1% in 2015, a Tennessee resident needed to make at least $332,913.
Tennessee Lookout
September 30, 2022
Research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that disparities in academic opportunity begin as early as kindergarten. Children who develop their social and emotional skills by the time they reach kindergarten age can be more likely to go to college, according to a 2015 study by the American Public Health Association.
The Mercury News
September 30, 2022
Tens of thousands of these workers have experienced heat-related injuries and hundreds more have died from heat, all while earning an average of $25,000 to $29,999 per year in one of the most hazardous jobs in the country, the Economic Policy Institute found.
ABC News
September 30, 2022
During the pandemic-induced recession, young workers became jobless at a much higher rate than older workers, according to a study released by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in 2020.
ABC News
September 30, 2022
“The lowest-income households, say bottom 20%, tend to not carry a ton of debt having incomes too low often to even qualify for significant loans,” L. Josh Bivens, research director with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), said in an email.
USA Today
September 30, 2022
“Teachers face myriad issues, including wage degradation,” Seton Hall Professor Christopher Tienken said of the findings. “For example, according to an economic policy institute (EPI) report from August 26, 2022, average weekly teacher wages grew by just $29 when adjusted for inflation, between 1996-2021, compared to $445 for other college graduates over the same period. Dubbed the ‘Teacher pay penalty,’ teachers can make as little as 35 percent less than college-educated people in other professions.”
New Rochelle Patch
September 27, 2022
The Economic Policy Institute shows that more than 60% of Tennessee corporations pay nothing in franchise and excise tax, the state’s corporate income tax.
The Tennessean
September 27, 2022