According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank, H-2A workers are already underpaid compared to other workers.
“In 2019, the average wage of all nonsupervisory farmworkers was $13.99 per hour, according to USDA, while the average wage for all workers in 2019 was $26.53 per hour, meaning the farmworker wage was just 53% of the average for all workers,” read an EPI post. “And the average wage for production and nonsupervisory nonfarm workers—the most logical cohort for workers outside of agriculture to compare with farmworkers—was $23.51.
The Salinas Californian
February 17, 2021
Several economists have offered critiques of the CBO’s job loss projections. Arindrajit Dube, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, previously told Insider that he found the projections “pessimistic,” and the Economic Policy Institute released its own blog post discussing the report’s projections.
Business Insider
February 17, 2021
On average, Black workers are paid 73 cents on the white dollar; Black men make only 71 cents of what their white male counterparts earn, with Black women making 64 cents to the white male dollar, according to data obtained from the Economic Policy Institute.
Spectrum News
February 17, 2021
Boston Herald
February 17, 2021
But proponents argue that better-quality studies tend to show that increases in the minimum wage do not hurt employment. The CBO did not properly weight the higher-quality studies in its analysis, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
CNN
February 17, 2021
Along with a D.C.-based energy company, Revolution Solar, Wise has started a round of community workshops to introduce D.C. residents to the job opportunities offered by the solar industry. Wise, who is not an employee of the company, is trying to bring awareness of those possibilities as the city deals with a Black unemployment rate of 11.3 percent compared to a White unemployment rate of 2 percent in 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Washington Post
February 17, 2021
“It really does feel like a systemic change,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute. “Before, it was all about the deficit, deficit, deficit — and anyone who did not agree was sidelined. Now, it is almost the flip side,” she said.
Bloomberg Government
February 17, 2021
Advocates say that raising wages at the bottom of the pay scale would help relieve income inequality, including racial disparities in earnings. The liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates that 31% of African Americans and 26% of Latinos would receive a raise if the federal minimum wage were elevated to $15 an hour.
Associated Press
February 17, 2021
David Cooper, senior analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, joins The Takeaway to discuss the debate over the $15 minimum wage at the federal level.
The Takeaway
February 17, 2021
A report from the Economic Policy Institute found that online learning and teaching are effective only if students have consistent access to the internet and computers and if teachers have received targeted training and support for online instruction.
Charlotte Observer
February 16, 2021