Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist for the Labor Department under President Barack Obama and now a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said the change in methodology should make the seasonally adjusted numbers more accurate.
The New York Times
September 2, 2020
In reality, the system is as unaffordable for families as it is underfunded for workers. Because of the strict income guidelines for subsidies, parents in California earning $30,000 a year or more had to pay monthly co-payments of about $100 to $200, according to a 2018 study by the Urban Institute. Overall, the Economic Policy Institute calculates, the annual cost of care for an infant in California is a whopping $16,945 — consuming about a quarter of the median yearly income.
Truthout
September 2, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, just 67% of nonunion private-sector workers had access to health care benefits in 2019, compared to 94% of union members.
Tennessean
September 2, 2020
Since George Floyd’s death, renewed and vigorous attention has been placed on police violence and discrimination against African Americans. These depredations are often referred to as “structural racism.” But structural racism is not restricted to criminal justice, and not restricted to adults.
Farmers Advance
September 2, 2020
A 2019 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute showed that across the country, educators spend an average of $459 of their own money buying supplies.
Yes Weekly
September 2, 2020
Numerous studies have shown that the Midwest has some of the most egregious disparities between Black and white people. A 2019 report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) noted that “racial disparities in economic opportunity and economic outcomes are wider [in the Midwest] than they are in other regions, and policy interventions designed to close those gaps are meager.” Indeed, when 24/7 Wall St. identified the ten worst cities for Black Americans, all ten were in the Midwest.
Sojourners
September 2, 2020
Some—but far from all—parents benefited directly from the CARES Act set-aside of $3.5 billion, says child care expert Elliot Haspel, because many states temporarily waived copays for lower-income families already receiving child care subsidies. (By contrast, Delta Airlines alone received more from CARES than the entire child care industry.) But the Center for Law and Social Policy and the National Women’s Law Center estimate that a true stabilization package for the duration of the pandemic would cost $9.6 billion a month. Even that is a pittance compared with what is needed longer-term. A genuine universal child care system with high-quality care and solid salaries across the board would be more like a $70 billion annual proposition, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others (Haspel and his ilk estimate it will cost much more: One Economic Policy Institute paper puts the cost between $337 billion and $495 billion).
Slate
September 2, 2020
The findings come as the coronavirus crisis continues to spotlight the inequities of the U.S. healthcare system. A national analysis out last month from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, estimated that roughly 12 million people have lost access to employer-sponsored healthcare coverage since February.
Common Dreams
September 2, 2020