People of color, for example, who were underrepresented across almost every industry prior to the pandemic, are now facing higher rates of unemployment compared to their white counterparts, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. In other words, the pandemic has exposed deep-rooted vulnerabilities in the workforce and has underscored the need for policies that will promote a fair and even recovery.
Fast Company
November 20, 2020
While the financial and job woes facing many Americans have deepened during the pandemic, the phenomenon is nothing new, he said. In January, when the job market was at a 50-year low, Ludwig’s “true rate of unemployment” was 23.5% — or about seven times higher than the Labor Department’s official jobless rate at the time of 3.6%.
Approaching unemployment through this lens is “super interesting,” said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Examining the job market by looking at different buckets of people — like those who are unable to find a new job versus those struggling to earn above a poverty wage — can help policymakers develop approaches geared to each group.
At the same time, the labor market “just isn’t delivering” for many workers, she said, adding, “It’s good to have an idea of the scope of that.
CBS Moneywatch
November 20, 2020
More than a dozen progressive groups are pushing Biden to stock federal agencies with people who favor their domestic policy agenda. The Progressive Change Institute, the Center for Popular Democracy, MoveOn, Public Citizen, the Sunrise Movement, the Economic Policy Institute and other left-wing groups sent a list of 400 names to the Biden transition team recently.
Bloomberg Government
November 20, 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic started spreading across the country in the spring, nearly a quarter of all young workers — defined as ages 16 to 24 — lost their jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute. One in four young people just starting out in the workforce had their futures put on hold indefinitely. And they’re not alone: Axios in October reported that the “true unemployment rate” for Americans of all ages is over 26%.
Business Insider
November 20, 2020
When I read Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute about the grimness of December for those on claims who are losing their benefits tell us about what’s coming in December. Well, it’s an unappreciated aspect of all this, most of what the CARES Act produced is going to expire on December 31st, including that extra emergency 13 weeks that I was just talking about. The pandemic emergencies goes away December 31st, also the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance which has 8 million people on it now that’s for gig workers and the self-employed that goes away on December 31st.
Bloomberg Radio
November 20, 2020
Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist at the Labor Department and senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said it could take over a year for the agencies to finalize rules and regulations around gig work. And the lawsuits against gig companies could take even longer, especially if they go to the Supreme Court.
Protocol
November 20, 2020
But one of the bleakest aspects of pandemic hazard pay is that it was never actually particularly widespread to begin with. A survey conducted by the Economic Policy Institute in June found that only about 30 percent of people working outside of their homes during the pandemic had received hazard pay increases, and that number is almost certainly lower now that most of the businesses that previously adopted hazard pay have ended the practice.
New Republic
November 20, 2020
Recent studies out of the Economic Policy Institute and McKinsey and Company, nonpartisan think tanks, cite the negative impact of reduced and remote learning for children and their futures. Data shows reduced learning time has likely impeded both the amount and quality of learning time with all students, but with a significant impact noted for low-income, Black and Hispanic students. A loss of learning leads to a loss in future earnings and this loss is projected to have a long-term impact, which includes increased dropout rates, decreased educational engagement and a loss of future earnings impacting an already stressed economy.
Chicago Tribune
November 20, 2020
Janine Jackson interviewed the Economic Policy Institute’s Josh Bivens about pandemic unemployment for the November 13, 2020, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
FAIR
November 20, 2020