Researchers at the Economic Policy Institute say 6.4 million workers have lost access to insurance through their employer amid job losses during the pandemic. When accounting for spouses and dependents in those plans, the number of people losing employer coverage is likely closer to 12 million.
Fierce Healthcare
August 28, 2020
“We find that a CEO now earns about 320 times that of a typical worker in their main industry,” said Lawrence Mishel, a labor economist and distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute, an independent think tank in Washington D.C.
Mishel just authored a report analyzing CEO compensation. That report shows how in March and April when some CEOs were reported to have cut their salaries during the economic downturn, it wasn’t as big of a sacrifice as it seemed.
The Denver Channel
August 28, 2020
Dresser contributed to a 2019 report led by the Economic Policy Institute that said all 12 Midwestern states have deep racial disparities, in areas from education and jobs, to health and home ownership.
For this week’s Statewide, we interviewed Elizabeth Powers, an economist with the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the University of Illinois and Heidi Shierholz, an economist and policy director at the Washington, D.C,-based Economic Policy Institute. Powers was a member of former President George H.W. administration, while Shierholz served in former President Barack Obama’s administration. They discussed the impact of COVID-19 on women in the workforce.
Public News Service
August 28, 2020
If Congress decides to reinstate a federal unemployment benefit bonus — in any amount — it will likely take two to four weeks for payments to flow to states and then recipients, according to the Economic Policy Institute. So far, the proposal has been introduced only in the Senate. Democratic congressional leaders are currently negotiating with the GOP on the particulars of the plan.
CNET
August 28, 2020
“That means people on UI are now are forced to get by on the meager benefits which are in place without the extra payment, which are typically around 40% of their pre-virus earnings,” says Heidi Shierholz, policy director for the Economic Policy Institute. “It goes without saying that most folks can’t exist on 40% of prior earnings without experiencing a sharp drop in living standards and enormous pain.”
People’s World
August 28, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, ‘The disparate racial impact of the virus is deeply rooted in historic and ongoing social and economic injustices. Persistent racial disparities in health status, access to health care, wealth, employment, wages, housing, income and poverty all contribute to greater susceptibility to the virus-both economically and physically.’ A reopening of many states and a modest economic recovery in May benefited some business owners, but the racial gap still persists.
Public News Service
August 28, 2020
“It’s clear. The days where the Fed Chair’s primary role is to pull away the punchbowl from the labor market just as things start going well should be seen as decisively over,” said L. Josh Bivens, research director at the labor-focused Economic Policy Institute, referring to a metaphor coined by a former Fed chair, William McChesney Martin, to describe how the central bank acts to contain inflation. “It is a very welcome acknowledgment about how much more room they have to probe the absolute limits of full employment,” Bivens said.
Reuters
August 28, 2020
So, let’s start. We can’t go back to 1980 and buy a house for $60,000.00, but we can buy one today. If my $327,100.00 purchase appreciates the same amount, in 40 years my house will be worth $1,771,430.00. What income do I need to buy a $327k house? First, we need to know what your mortgage payment would be. For the sake of simplicity let’s assume that you put a 3 percent down payment on the house, and you get a 30-year fixed mortgage at 3 percent. The mortgage payment includes your principal and interest, and your taxes and insurance. The principal and interest payment for this loan is $1,334.11. Let’s assume that your taxes are $300 a month and your insurance is $100 a month. Your complete mortgage payment is $1,734.11. Generally speaking, your mortgage payment cannot be more than 28 percent of your gross monthly income. This means in order to qualify for this mortgage you need a minimum annual salary of $80,512.25. Right away we have a problem. According to the Economic Policy Institute the median hourly wage — the wage at which half the workforce is paid more and half the workforce is paid less — stood at $19.33 per hour in 2019. For a full-time, full-year worker, this would translate into about $40,000 per year. It appears as if we are going to need some additional income if we are going to maintain our goal. So the next question becomes how does one increase their income?
Purposely Awakened
August 28, 2020
Teacher shortages have always been a crisis due partly to a lack of qualified applicants, low wages and lack of career support, according to a 2019 report by the Economic Policy Institute. “You would think states would panic upon hearing this,” teacher Kelly Treleaven wrote in a New York Times op-ed that cited the report. Instead, “they slash the education budget, which forces districts to cut jobs (increasing class size), put off teacher raises and roll back the quality of teachers’ health care. They ignore teachers’ pleas for buildings without black mold creeping out of ceiling tiles, for sensible gun legislation, and for salaries we can live on without having to pick up two to three additional part-time jobs. So, a lot of good and talented teachers leave.”
Yahoo
August 28, 2020
“Because most U.S. workers rely on their employer or a family member’s employer for health insurance, the shock of the coronavirus has cost millions of Americans their jobs and their access to healthcare in the midst of a public health catastrophe,” Josh Bivens, co-author of the study and director of research at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), said in a statement announcing the findings.
“Tying health insurance to the labor market is always terribly inefficient and problematic, but becomes particularly so during times of great labor market churn,” said Bivens.
Common Dreams
August 28, 2020