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Between 1978 and 2021, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), CEO compensation at the 350 largest publicly traded U.S. companies rose by an inflation-adjusted 1,460%, far outstripping the 18.1% pay increase that the nation’s typical worker saw during that period.
The trend of soaring CEO pay has continued during the coronavirus pandemic, which caused mass economic chaos and job loss among ordinary workers. EPI found that “while millions lost jobs in the first year of the pandemic and suffered real wage declines due to inflation in the second year, CEOs’ realized compensation jumped 30.3% between 2019 and 2021.”
“Typical worker compensation among those who remained employed rose 3.9% over the same time span,” note EPI’s Josh Bivens and Jori Kandra, the authors of the new report.
Bivens and Kandra write in their new analysis that the chief executive pay surge in recent decades is not the “result of a competitive market for talent but rather reflect[s] the power of CEOs to extract concessions.”
In 2021, the CEOs of top U.S. companies raked in nearly 400 times more pay than the typical worker.
“Some observers argue that exorbitant CEO compensation is merely a symbolic issue, with no consequences for the vast majority of workers,” Bivens and Kandra note. “However, the escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, generating widespread inequality.”
Bivens and Kandra write in their new analysis that the chief executive pay surge in recent decades is not the “result of a competitive market for talent but rather reflect[s] the power of CEOs to extract concessions.”
In 2021, the CEOs of top U.S. companies raked in nearly 400 times more pay than the typical worker.
“Some observers argue that exorbitant CEO compensation is merely a symbolic issue, with no consequences for the vast majority of workers,” Bivens and Kandra note. “However, the escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, generating widespread inequality.”
“Another option,” Bivens and Kandra write, “is to set corporate tax rates higher for firms that have higher ratios of CEO-to-worker compensation,” an idea proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his 2021 Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act.
In These Times October 14, 2022 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the median savings of American workers, including plans such as 401(k)s, was just $60,000. For the 40 percent of Americans aged 60–69 who even have a 401(k), the median holding is about $82,000. But that is enough for maybe six or seven years, while the average life expectancy for a 65-year-old is 18.2 years for men and just under 20 years for women.
American Prospect October 12, 2022 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 30 of America’s 50 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted minimum wages that are higher than the federal standard. That leaves 20 where employers are still allowed to pay their workers as little as $7.25 an hour. Five of them — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee — have no minimum wage at all. Two others — Georgia and Wyoming — still have their minimum wages set at $5.15 an hour. In all seven of those states, the federal threshold of $7.25 applies.
Yahoo Finance October 12, 2022 -
A study published in June by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, found, “about 1 in 7 gig workers (14 percent) earned less than the federal minimum wage on an hourly basis and more than a quarter (29 percent) earned less than the state minimum wage.”
The Register October 12, 2022 -
Notably, one in seven gig workers, or people working for companies like Uber and DoorDash, are making less than the federal minimum wage, the Economic Policy Institute found earlier this year. Corporations are allowed to exploit the fact that such workers aren’t classified as employees in order to not guarantee a minimum wage or provide benefits. The fact that these jobs exist and are still staffed is evidence that Johnson’s bad faith claim that wages would rise if there were fewer wage regulations is blatantly untrue.
Truthout October 12, 2022 -
Ten states apply that test to wage and hour benefits, though some only for workers in certain industries such as construction and landscaping, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CNBC October 12, 2022 -
A 2018 report from the progressive nonprofit Economic Policy Institute ranked Nevada fourth in the nation for the most unequal income distribution, which increased briskly since 2007. While the nation was recovering from the Great Recession between 2009 and 2015, Nevada’s top 1 percent captured most of the income growth, snagging 81 percent from the pie, according to the report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Nevada Independent October 11, 2022 -
Nguyen: So, more bad news. Our wages have generally stagnated since the 1970s. The Economic Policy Institute has found that there’s a gap between productivity and how much we’re getting paid. Productivity has risen more than three times as fast as hourly pay since the ‘70s.
And when it comes to average weekly earnings, workers in production and nonsupervisory roles earned more than $1,000 back in August of ‘72. That’s adjusted for inflation. But in August of this year, it was less than that. Those workers were earning under $940 a week.
Marketplace October 11, 2022 -
The Economic Policy Institute has emerged over recent years as America’s most perceptive source of CEO pay data, and analysts from the Institute earlier this week released their latest yearly update. The headline stat from this new EPI analysis: Corporate chiefs at the 350 top American firms that trade on the stock market last year realized an average $27.8 million in compensation, an 11.1-percent increase over their previous year’s pay and a record 399 times more than the take-home of typical American workers.
Counter Punch October 11, 2022 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute, RTW laws aim to hamstring unions’ ability to help employees bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Research shows that historically, wages for union workers average about 11% more than those of their non-union counterparts. Non-union workers in RTW states generally have fewer benefits as well.
The Tennessean October 11, 2022