Income has also worsened in 2019 for Blacks and Hispanics relative to 2017. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has found that nationally, the median household income for Blacks was $46,073 in 2019. This income level is $29,984 less than the median household income for Whites: $76,057. This gap has grown since 2017, when the median household income for Blacks was only $28,680 less than the median household income for Whites. For Hispanics, EPI has found similar results. In 2017, the median household income for Hispanics was $18,363 less than the median household income for Whites. In 2019, this gap increased to $19,944. Currently the national Black median household income is only 59.6% of the national White median household income. For Hispanics, the national median household income is 74.1% of White household income. This gap is even greater in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio where the Black median household income is 57% and 55% of the White median household income respectively.
Forbes
November 2, 2020
Teresa Ghilarducci is the Schwartz Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research. She’s the co-author of “Rescuing Retirement” and a member of the board of directors of the Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg
November 2, 2020
Although cost of living factors impacts teacher salaries like any other profession, data shows that teachers are underpaid as a profession. According to a study from the Economic Policy Institute, teachers earn 19% less than similarly skilled and educated professionals. A 2018 study by the Department of Education shows that full-time public school teachers are earning less on average, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than they earned in 1990.
TechCrunch
November 2, 2020
If passed, the rule would cost workers more than $3.7 billion a year in lost wages and benefits as they are reclassified as contractors, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found.
EPI Director of Policy Heidi Shierholz said in comments submitted to the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL the costs would be $400 million in new annual paperwork costs, and at least $3.3 billion in the form of reduced pay and benefits, per year. The losses from social insurance funds would be 750 million, per year.
Black and Latinx workers would be most affected by this proposal, due to “occupational segregation by race,” and “structural racism,” she said, and finalization of this rule would “exacerbate existing racial disparities.”
“It is disgraceful that during a deadly pandemic and a deep economic downturn that the Trump administration is choosing to spend its resources further weakening protections for millions of workers,” said Shierholz in the comments. “The Department of Labor is doing a disservice to its mission, and our country, by pursuing this agenda instead of providing much-needed protections to U.S. workers.”
Next City
November 2, 2020
Twenty-nine states have set their rates higher than the federal minimum – all the way up to $13.50 in Washington. And some cities have set their minimum wage above their state’s floor. The large differences make efforts to statistically characterize minimum wage earners across the nation “thorny,” according to David Cooper, a senior economic analyst at left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Politifact
November 2, 2020
Health insurance is another area where the safety net failed for millions of Americans. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that about since the pandemic began, roughly 6.2 million workers lost access to their employer-sponsored coverage.
Bloomberg
November 2, 2020
The Tax Policy Center has also found that the act contributed to some short term growth in economic output, as “most households have more after-tax income, which they are likely to spend,” according to an analysis. But it has contributed to growing inequality, too. A report from the Economic Policy Institute last year concluded that the act “did not increase wages for working people, failed to spur business investments, decreased corporate tax revenues, and boosted stock buybacks in its wake.”
Capital and Main
November 2, 2020
Some voters may find that the strong growth numbers do not match their experience of how the economy is doing after taking a big shock from COVID-19, said Josh Bivens, director of research for the Economic Policy Institute.
Roughly half of the 22 million jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered, but new hiring is slowing. Infections are rising and some companies caution they may need to make more cuts.
“That disjuncture between GDP and how most people feel about the economy is even going to be larger in the coming weeks and months,” said Bivens.
The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is unique because it fell hard on “labor intensive” sectors, such as leisure and hospitality, which often rely on a large number of workers to provide face-to-face services. Think of the servers, bartenders, housekeepers and other people in low-wage jobs completing tasks that are associated with relatively minor contributions to GDP, Bivens said.
Reuters
November 2, 2020
Features interview with Josh Bivens.
Washington Post Podcast: “Can He Do That?”
November 2, 2020