Media clips

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• Economists say $11 vs. $15 minimum wage weighs politics against worker benefits

  But the calculator also showed that a lower minimum wage would not lift as many Americans out of poverty. An $11 or $12 wage increase would only reduce poverty by as many as 120,000 and 320,000 people, respectively.

  “Any of these lower targets would leave many more families in poverty and dramatically reduce the number of people who would get a pay increase,” said Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

  Zipperer pointed to a CBO analysis from 2019 that found a $12 minimum wage by 2025 would result in 11 million workers having higher earnings and 0.4 million fewer people in poverty. A $10 wage hike would mean 3.5 million people with higher earnings but essentially a zero reduction in poverty.

  “An $11 minimum wage today would represent essentially no improvement in living standards for the lowest-wage workers over the past 50 years,” Zipperer said. “This is completely unjustified given that the economy’s productivity has doubled over that time period. In fact, had we increased the minimum wage in line with productivity growth over that period, it would be over $20 today.”

  Newsweek March 1, 2021
• AOC calls GOP’s $10 minimum wage pitch ‘legislated poverty’ as Democrats push for $15

  The Economic Policy Institute has found that the minimum wage, if adjusted for inflation, should have exceeded $15 by 2020. It has not been raised since 2009.

  The Independent March 1, 2021
• Progressives vow to fight Manchin and Sinema holding up stimulus over $15 wage

  Progressives have also disputed Manchin’s claim that the lower wage hike would be better for his state, as some pointed to an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report, which says that the minimum wage hike proposal would help lift the wages of about 255,000 workers in West Virginia and would especially benefit people of color.

  Truthout March 1, 2021
• Bernie Sanders: US sick of subsidizing ‘starvation wages’ at Walmart and McDonald’s

  A recent Congressional Budget Office concluded 27 million Americans would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage to $15, and that 900,000 would be lifted out of poverty. But the CBO also said the increase would lead to 1.4m job losses and increase the federal budget deficit by $54bn over the next 10 years. The Economic Policy Institute, and others, have called the report “wrong, and inappropriately inflated”.

  The Guardian March 1, 2021
• Workers making COVID test kits exposed to COVID

  In January alone, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, temporary jobs rose 80,900 to a total of 2.7 million, highlighting explosive growth.

  “Typically, temp work bounces back,” says Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, explaining the typical pattern during recessions. Temp jobs are traditionally the first to go, but also the first to return once the economy improves.

  The American Prospect March 1, 2021
• What Biden’s minimum-wage plan means for restaurant workers

  Prior to the pandemic, 3.9 million U.S. workers earned tips, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank. Almost 80% of those worked in states that didn’t require them to be paid the full minimum wage, before tips. More than 60% of tipped workers were restaurant wait staff and bartenders.

  Wall Street Journal March 1, 2021
• Congress weighs raising federal minimum wage to $15 an hour

  Supporters said it would help close the gender and race pay gaps, and would likely raise wages for 27 million Americans.

  “Income inequality would shrink and nearly a million people would be pulled out of poverty,” said Heidi Shierholz, Senior Economist and Director of Policy at the Economic Policy Institute.

  WPXI-TV March 1, 2021
• A $15 minimum wage isn’t just about justice. It’s good economics

  The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive research group, predicts that if the minimum rises to $15, nearly one-third (31%) of African Americans and one-quarter (26%) of Latinos will receive a pay increase.

  The Guardian March 1, 2021
• More workers just became eligible for unemployment, including those who didn’t return to work over safety concerns

  “There have been tons of workers in this pandemic who’ve been denied benefits because they’ve been offered a job that’s actually not safe,” Heidi Shierholz, the director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told Insider.

  She added: “One of the key things this does is just makes it very clear that if you get offered a job that is not safe because of COVID risks, you can still get PUA. And I just think that that’s super meaningful.”

  Business Insider March 1, 2021
• Stimulus checks to Americans earning over $50K won’t boost economy before pandemic ends: Expert

  Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist to Barack Obama‘s secretary of labor, is a strong advocate for stimulus payments and believes their benefits are crucial for struggling Americans as well as the nation’s economic recovery—even if their full contributions to the economy take time to materialize. Shierholz was one of 120 economists who signed an open letter urging Congress to adopt Biden’s plan to deliver $1,400 checks last November.

  “One thing that’s tricky is the stimulus payments have happened…in combination with increases in unemployment insurance and so it’s hard to untangle [the individual effects of each policy],” Shierholz told Newsweek. “It’s hard to separate the two, but those direct payments to people have had a big impact on the economy.” She referenced research conducted by organizations like the Urban Institute, which showed that last year’s stimulus payments and expanded unemployment insurance benefits prevented millions of people from entering poverty.

  Newsweek March 1, 2021