As documented by the Economic Policy Institute, the unemployment rate for recent graduates ages 16-24 increased by 16%, going from from 8.4 percent to 24.4 in the year between spring 2019 and 2020. These numbers are even greater for Black people, which is why Polly Irungu, founder of Black Women Photographers, stepped in.
Essence
June 25, 2021
With this significant expansion, “what we’ve done in this recession is very different” than in the past, said Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist for Obama administration’s labor department and now director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. Now, “even though the labor market is improving, there’s still a long way to go,” she said. Shierholz said cutting benefits will disproportionately harm Black and Latino workers, who have higher rates of unemployment. She said there is “no economy-wide labor shortage.” While there is some evidence of a shortage in leisure and hospitality, it is “isolated” and has not extended to other sectors, she said. “The very, very low-wage jobs are the ones where there are lots of openings now,” Shierholz said.
The Baltimore Sun
June 25, 2021
According to a 2019 estimate by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), U.S. employers spend nearly $340 million per year on union avoidance services. The EPI also found that by the early 2000s, about 75% of all employers facing union elections involving 50 or more voters retained a union avoidance consultant.
Salon.com
June 25, 2021
The NRF’s survey found retail chains fired an average of 559 employees for stealing in 2019, and prosecuted an average of 156, while research by the Economic Policy Institute found employers are rarely prosecuted and underfunded labor regulators often lack the ability to enforce wage laws.
Business Insider
June 25, 2021
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they were moving on to better jobs — wages across industries haven’t meaningfully risen, meaning workers who quit aren’t, as a whole, making more money, Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, told Vox: “Really key wage measures are just not showing strong growth.”
Money isn’t the only factor, either. Some retail workers are leaving their jobs for roles that may have better conditions — for example, jobs in construction or warehouses where they may not have to deal with difficult customers. But some say it will take more than the fluctuations of a post-pandemic job market to really give workers meaningful power, in retail or elsewhere. Unless the surge in quitting leads to greater unionization and policy shifts like a higher minimum wage, Shierholz said, “it’s not going to be a lasting change.”
VOX
June 25, 2021
In their report, the Economic Policy Institute, NELP, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth recommended a range of reforms, such as permanently expanding eligibility to include gig workers and contractors; automatically extending benefits during recessions beyond the 26 weeks provided by most states; and increasing minimum benefit levels.
The Associated Press
June 25, 2021
Despite expected strong job growth and recovery as society opens back up and vaccine availability is more widespread, there needs to be an active effort to make jobs in the care industry equitable, said Dr. Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. She noted that good job growth does not necessarily mean an equitable economic recovery.
“We know that more than 90% of care jobs are held by women, over half of care jobs are held by women of color,” Shierholz said. “On an hourly basis, care workers are paid about three quarters of what other workers with similar demographic characteristics – who do other jobs – are paid. Care workers are much more likely to be poor or near-poor. It’s difficult to think of a better strategy for an equitable recovery than making sure these care jobs are good jobs.”
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
June 25, 2021
Left-of-center economists counter the problem isn’t about labor supply. Low-wage sectors are seeing stronger job growth than high-wage sectors, which shouldn’t be the case if unemployment benefits were holding back hiring, argues Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, in a recent editorial.
She said the states that have ended enhanced federal unemployment benefits early in response to complaints from employers stand to lose $22 billion in aid and slow their economic recovery. Colorado instead has tried a carrot approach, offering workers who find a new job a payment of up to $1,600.
Denver Post
June 25, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute did find signs of short-term labor shortages in the hospitality and leisure sectors. According to the institute’s own analysis though, these shortages are unlikely to spill into the larger economy. A recent report by the economic think tank suggests a continuation of unemployment insurance and other forms of direct assistance.
Instead of cutting benefits, the Economic Policy Institute found increasing wages in the restaurant and leisure industries was a natural way to bring workers back. The government’s April jobs report showed employers are doing just that: wages are rising as employers try to attract more workers.
“The rapid wage growth of the past three months is exactly what is supposed to happen when there is a sectoral imbalance between supply and demand,” according to a post on the institute’s Working Economics Blog.
KNX News Radio
June 25, 2021