July 2019 findings from the Economic Policy Institute showed more than 33 million American workers would benefit from a federal raise to a $15 minimum wage, including 116,000 workers in New Hampshire.
Seacoast Online
January 4, 2021
Those startling discrepancies represent a stark example of how the pandemic has exacerbated America’s already chronic inequalities, amid a widespread awakening to the country’s deep-rooted problems with economic and racial injustice.
“It is definitely something that has increased disparities between white and Black, between those well-off and less well-off – high wage, low wage. All of those things have been absolutely pulling apart,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The Guardian
January 4, 2021
Thea Lee, President of the Economic Policy Institute, says “the package is a fraction of what is required to address the monumental economic damage caused by inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” There’s no real state and local budget aid and the unemployment insurance provisions are too weak.
Forbes
January 4, 2021
The number of 401(k) withdrawals this year amount to “a ripple and not a wave” because individuals in the hardest hit sector of the economy — service industry employees — don’t typically receive retirement benefits, according to Monique Morrissey, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
January 4, 2021
Per a news release from the Economic Policy Institute, local and state aid, plus corporate immunity provisions, were big sticking points that delayed a second round of relief. Neither was included in last week’s federal relief deal.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
January 4, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute in August found roughly 6.2 million workers may have lost their employer-sponsoredhealth insurance coverage between February and July of this year, based on job loss and gains in that time.
“The downsides of employer-based health insurance access have been made spectacularly visible by the COVID-19 shock — a shock that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and their access to health care in the midst of a public health catastrophe,” the report said.
Palm Springs Desert Sun
January 4, 2021
According to the Economic Policy Institute, a majority of the beneficiaries of a $15 federal mandate would be primary breadwinners. Full-time workers, they are parents to over 14 million children. More beneficiaries (14.6 percent) would be over 55 than teenagers (9.3 percent). The wages of 38 percent of African American workers and 33.4 percent of Hispanics would increase. It is also worth noting that 4.3 million workers (16 percent of whom are African American and 21 percent Hispanic) deemed “essential” during the pandemic currently earn less than $10 an hour.
The Hill
January 4, 2021
While members of government have been skeptical of this type of fiscal support, a study done by Noah Berger and Peter Fisher of the Economic Policy Institute showed that there is a correlation between the amount of education a state’s workforce has, and the median wages of that state. Given the research we’ve seen around how financial outcomes are heavily dictated by the community one grows up in, free access to public education at the community college level will help level the playing field.
The Hill
January 4, 2021
The largest share of essential workers is employed in health care and the food and agriculture sectors, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
El Paso Times
January 4, 2021
According to the Economic Policy Institute, “the gender wage gap refers to historically persistent differences between what men and women are paid in the workplace.” In 2019, the average woman earned $0.85 for every dollar a man earned.
Yahoo Finance
January 4, 2021