In late October as the coronavirus pandemic raged, the Economic Policy Institute released a study showing that it isn’t just morally right but an economic necessity to deal with poverty in this country and fast. “If America does not address what’s happening with visionary social and economic policy,” as that study put it, “the health and well-being of the nation are at stake. What we need is long-term economic policy that establishes justice, promotes the general welfare, rejects decades of austerity, and builds strong social programs that lift society from below.”
Truthout
December 17, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would increase the salary of 20% of wage-earning Americans. But this increase could also have a negative effect on employment. A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that this extra cost to businesses would indeed cause a drop in people living under the poverty line, but also the loss of 1.3 million jobs nationwide.
The Conversation
December 17, 2020
Las autoras del estudio son Emma García, economista del Economic Policy Institute y Teachers College, de la Universidad de Columbia, y Elaine Weiss, directora de políticas de la National Academy of Social Insurance e investigadora del Economic Policy Institute. / Europa Press
Ocio Latino
December 17, 2020
And now, a new report shows, their bosses are more likely to stiff them on wages. Between 2000 and 2019, the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) conducted more than 31,000 investigations of farm employers, and 70 percent of them detected violations, according to data analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. That led to employers coughing up $76 million in back wages to 154,000 farmworkers, and $63 million in civil penalties for violations related to inadequate housing, transportation, and record-keeping.
The Counter
December 17, 2020
But the overall cost of childcare in Colorado is not likely to change anytime soon. Even before COVID-19, the expense far exceeded the amount of money people have to spend on it. According to 2019 data from the Economic Policy Institute, Colorado ranks eighth in the United States for the most expensive infant care. “A slot for a year for an infant was, on average, more than a year of college, but you didn’t have 18 years to save up for it,” Franko says. “It was and still is a huge chunk of people’s income. For a minimum wage worker, it would take 30 to 33 weeks of their pay to afford a year of infant care.”
5280
December 17, 2020
Fremstad says more than a third of workers in many frontline industries live in low-income families. And the Economic Policy Institute reports that in the first quarter of 2020, Black workers had the highest unemployment rate nationally — 6.3% — putting them at a disadvantage even before the pandemic.
Indiana Public Radio
December 17, 2020
Bold retirees sport the bumper sticker “I am spending my children’s inheritance.” The sentiment might seem selfish, but it’s good financial planning.
Forbes
December 17, 2020
Similar to false notions of upward mobility, personal ideas of noble and essential careers are beaten down by capitalist realities. School teachers, nurses, pharmacists, and many other positions are paid significantly lower wages than private-sector alternatives, which involve similar levels of education and commitment. For example, a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute found that the teacher wage penalty, which describes how much more is made in wages by alternative college-educated positions compared to teaching positions, has grown from six percent to 19.2 percent in the last 25 years. Like many other underpaid professionals, teachers are deemed noble and essential, but their compensation suggests otherwise. Ultimately, pursuing such careers, though incredibly important, marks a person as “unsuccessful” simply because they earn lower salaries. Income inequality leads to concentrations of money in certain professions, and only worsens the wealth distribution over time. In this way, personal views of success cannot hold themselves up in a society obsessed with money.
The Georgetown Voice
December 17, 2020