Media clips

• Recognizing Diversity Within the Labor Movement

  While the discussion would have been important in more typical times, the COVID-19 pandemic arguably has made it even more important. As researchers at organizations like the Economic Policy Institute have outlined, Black workers make up a disproportionate number of essential workers, putting them at greater risk of contracting the virus (and as a result, dying from it).

  Alliance for American Manufacturing September 15, 2020
• Second Stimulus Check: Wisconsin Will Ask Unemployed to Return $300 in Aid If Congress Passes New Bill

  Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, spoke to USA Today, and shared some professional insight on the matter. “All of this confusion just makes for more administrative burdens at a time when people are going longer without benefits, living standards are declining and poverty is rising after millions lost their jobs through no fault of their own from the pandemic,” Shierholz said. It is currently unknown how unemployment recipients would pay the money back if formally expected to.

  Pop Culture September 15, 2020
• School campuses in affluent areas plan to open quicker than those in poor Latino ones

  “The same children whose educations were most disrupted and learning interrupted from March to June are now least likely to have the face-to-face interactions and personalized supports they need to regain lost ground,” said economist Emma García, who co-wrote a report released last week on COVID-19-related inequities for the Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

  Los Angeles Times September 15, 2020
• Lost Health Insurance Should Be a Front-Page Political Issue

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, upward of six million workers have lost employer-provided health insurance since the pandemic began. Since most workers have families, the total number of people who’ve lost coverage likely exceeds double that, or more than 12 million.

  The American Prospect September 15, 2020
• America’s retirement savings crisis is now. Here’s how to fix it
  Even more troubling is the outsized impact on non-White Americans, women and those with lower earnings who work for small businesses. Roughly one out of every five non-White older workers had lost their job by June. Even before Covid-19, women were 80% more likely to be impoverished at age 65 and older than men. Additionally, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that just 41% of Black families and 35% of Hispanic families had retirement savings as of 2016.
  CNN September 15, 2020
• Study: Inequality Robs $2.5 Trillion From U.S. Workers Each Year

  It’s no secret that wage and productivity growth began decoupling in the 1970s. Charts like this one from the Economic Policy Institute have been ubiquitous in progressive economic policy debates since the Great Recession:
  New York Magazine September 15, 2020
• White Workers Are Getting Hired Back Twice As Fast As Black Workers

  “As jobs are coming back they’re disproportionately going to white people,” said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the progressive Economic Policy Institute.

  Huffington Post September 15, 2020
• Lost Health Insurance Should Be a Front-Page Political Issue

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, upward of six million workers have lost employer-provided health insurance since the pandemic began. Since most workers have families, the total number of people who’ve lost coverage likely exceeds double that, or more than 12 million.

  The American Prospect September 15, 2020
• America’s retirement savings crisis is now. Here’s how to fix it
  Even more troubling is the outsized impact on non-White Americans, women and those with lower earnings who work for small businesses. Roughly one out of every five non-White older workers had lost their job by June. Even before Covid-19, women were 80% more likely to be impoverished at age 65 and older than men. Additionally, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that just 41% of Black families and 35% of Hispanic families had retirement savings as of 2016.
  CNN September 15, 2020
• Study: Inequality Robs $2.5 Trillion From U.S. Workers Each Year

  It’s no secret that wage and productivity growth began decoupling in the 1970s. Charts like this one from the Economic Policy Institute have been ubiquitous in progressive economic policy debates since the Great Recession:
  New York Magazine September 15, 2020