What they’re saying: “U.S. workers see unions as critical to fixing our nation’s broken workplace — where most workers have little power or agency at work,” wrote the Economic Policy Institute Tuesday in response to the Gallup poll findings.
Axios
September 2, 2022
It’s consistent with a separate report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) which found from 1996 to 2021, average weekly wages increased just $29 for public school teachers —consistently earning less than their non-teacher, college-educated counterparts.
The Hill
September 2, 2022
Participation in a teacher union can reduce educators’ stress levels, according to a paper released Monday by the Economic Policy Institute. Researchers measured the stress levels of teachers in districts with collective bargaining against those with no union agreement and found a 14% difference in stress levels.
EPI said reduced stress levels for union-affiliated teachers may be due to support for teacher compensation, improved working conditions and advocacy for “teacher voice.”
K-12 Dive
September 2, 2022
Cardona’s office told PolitiFact that he was referring to statistics from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
In a report released Aug. 16, the group found that inflation-adjusted average weekly wages of teachers had increased by just $29 between 1996 and 2021, specifically from $1,319 to $1,348 in inflation-adjusted dollars.
To calculate these figures, the group used two detailed data sets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We decided to see if the data from Cardona’s own department tracked with the Economic Policy Institute’s. So we examined National Center for Education Statistics’ data to find the estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools.
Those numbers are just a little different. Between the 1995-96 school year and the 2020-21 school year, average annual K-12 teacher salaries in public schools rose from $64,113 to $65,090. That’s an increase of $977 after accounting for inflation. (The Economic Policy Institute and Education Department tracked salaries of teachers via only average income, not the median. Allegretto said that either measure would be acceptable for studying teacher pay; unlike some fields where extreme outliers can skew averages compared to medians, the range of salaries in K-12 teaching is fairly compact.)
WRAL.com
September 2, 2022
According to the Economic Policy Institute, economists’ opinions vary on which is worse for an economy, a recession or rising inflation. One common argument is that inflation is worse than a recession because it impacts everyone. By contrast, a recession—and the associated job losses that come with it—may impact a smaller number of people.
Forbes
September 2, 2022
The majority are earning less than they would with a traditional job, and per an Economic Policy Institute analysis of a 2020 Shift Project survey, 14% of gig workers surveyed earned less than the federal minimum wage on an hourly basis. In addition to the lack of predictable income and benefits, some freelance work — like food delivery or Uber driving — can be grueling. And as more freelancers join the fold, this could mean more people competing for a limited number of opportunities.
September 2, 2022
The PBS NewsHour’s Digital Anchor, Nicole Ellis, spoke to two economists – Diana Furchtgott-Roth, George Washington University adjunct economics professor and former chief economist at the Department of Labor, and Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute – about how they interpret the current state of America’s economy and what they’re watching.
PBS Newshour
September 2, 2022
A report by the Economic Policy Institute released this month found the teacher pay penalty – the wage gap between teachers and other professionals with similar education experience – hit a new high, reaching 23.5% in 2021.
The Guardian
September 2, 2022
That feeling of disrespect has material roots. There has long been a “pay penalty” associated with teaching, compared to professions that require similar levels of education. Adjusted for inflation, teachers’ average weekly pay has increased by just $29 since 1996, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute; by comparison, other college graduates have seen an average increase of $445 per week over the same period. Low wages and high stress have led to a resurgence of labor organizing and militancy among teachers, including upcoming strikes planned in large districts like Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia.
Inside Higher Ed
September 2, 2022
The socioeconomic potential these jobs would bring is significant. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the decline of manufacturing in the U.S. has had its most adverse effects on workers of all races without a college degree. From 1998 to 2020, for example, the number of Black workers in manufacturing dropped by 30.4 percent—a loss of 646,500 jobs. In total, five million manufacturing jobs were lost in that same period.
The loss of such jobs has compounding effects. Black, Hispanic, and Asian American Pacific Islanders in manufacturing earn around 14 to 18 percent more than their non-manufacturing counterparts. For white manufacturing workers, the disparity is larger: They earn 29 percent more than non-manufacturing white workers.
The American Prospect
September 2, 2022