Taken altogether, the proposals mark a “meaningful investment in care, in paid leave, that will help many workers in the formal labor market,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “That will absolutely be good for economic growth.”
Bloomberg
April 30, 2021
Under Biden’s executive order, an estimated 390,000 workers will directly benefit, which about half are women and the rest are Black or Hispanic, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Arizona Republic
April 30, 2021
Another AFL-CIO alum and Drake’s former boss, Thea Lee, who is president of the labor-friendly Economic Policy Institute, will also be joining the Biden administration in a yet undisclosed role.
Politico
April 30, 2021
The Economic Policy institute estimates that up to 390,000 low-wage federal contractors will see a raise under the policy and that the average annual pay increase for affected year-round workers would be approximately $3,100. Among those who are expected to see their wages rise, roughly half will be women and roughly half will be Black or Hispanic.
CNBC
April 30, 2021
The liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that as many as 390,000 low-wage federal contractors would receive a raise, with roughly half of the beneficiaries being Black or Hispanic workers. There are an estimated 5 million contract workers in the federal government, according to a posting last year for the Brookings Institution by Paul Light, a public policy professor at New York University.
Associated Press
April 30, 2021
Schools have received even more support, including in the American Rescue Plan. “Almost $130 billion for K-12 education, and part of that was meant to allow for school reopening,” said Emma García, an education economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
García said the administration is hoping to add to that number through its infrastructure package. It’s also pushed a flurry of executive orders on the economy. But, so far, the administration’s been sticking to plans it can implement without Republican support, said Ken Jacobs, chair of the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
NPR Marketplace
April 30, 2021
MADDOW: How much — how much of a difference will this make on average for the federal contractors who are going to get raise from this and how many Americans is this going to affect?
BERNSTEIN: Well, the Economic Policy Institute did a great analysis that this very day. This is an executive order, so this is going into effect at the end of January of next year. And according to EPI, it`s going to reach 390,000 workers and it`s going to raise their annual pay by over $3,000 a year.
MSNBC
April 30, 2021
Liebman also serves on the board of the Economic Policy Institute.
Law360
April 30, 2021
Experts say the government keeps poor data on its large contract workforce, but the Economic Policy Institute estimates that such an order would create direct raises for up to 390,000 workers, with an average annual pay boost of around $3,100. Other workers who were already earning around $15 could also see pay increases as firms adjust their pay scales upward.
Huffpost
April 30, 2021
Black and Hispanic women disproportionately work in industries—such as leisure and hospitality—that were most negatively affected by the pandemic, said Valerie Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
Since February of last year, participation rates for white women, including mothers, haven’t dropped more than 3.2 percentage points. Rates for women of color—especially Black and Hispanic mothers with children under five—have at times fallen more.
Large numbers of Black and Hispanic women work in essential sectors—most notably healthcare—that have seen increased demand in the past year. But in those industries, according to Dr. Wilson, they tend to hold jobs that offer comparatively low pay and flexibility.
Because many of the child-care options women in those jobs relied on before the pandemic have disappeared, a lack of workplace flexibility has also driven Black and Hispanic mothers out of the labor force, according to Dr. Wilson.
Wall Street Journal
April 30, 2021