Media clips

• Incomes rose 6.8% in the U.S. last year—but a closer look shows there may not be much to cheer about

  That means the change in real median household income between 2018 and 2019 would have been a 4.1% increase instead of 6.8%, according to Elise Gould, senior economist for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  CNBC September 16, 2020
• EPI Clips: 9/16/20
  September 16, 2020
• Letters to the Editor, Sept. 16

  Trump promised to restore manufacturing jobs. Wrong. An Economic Policy Institute report in August said the U.S. has lost “nearly 1,800 factories … during the Trump administration between 2016 and 2018 (bit.ly/2Zffztf).

  Hood River News September 16, 2020
• In Presidential Race, Health Care Takes Backseat To Pandemic But Not In NC Senate Race

  There is some irony in the fact that the worst health care crisis in our lifetime has taken the focus off of health care coverage, even though, according to the Economic Policy Institute think tank, an estimated 6.2 million Americans lost their employer-sponsored health coverage because of the coronavirus-caused recession.

  WFAE September 16, 2020
• Kansas, Missouri Are Failing Mothers, Babies And Toddlers. Five Ways To Help Young Families

  COVID-19 job losses have exacerbated lack of access to prenatal care. The Economic Policy Institute estimates up to 12 million American workers have lost access to their employer-sponsored insurance – and women are overrepresented in the industries making significant cuts, including retail and restaurant jobs.

  KCUR September 16, 2020
• The Health 202: One million Americans lost health insurance last year

  The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that 12 million people have lost health insurance received through their workplace or that of a family member. Some of those have been able to enroll in Medicaid — its rolls have risen by about 4 million during the pandemic — but others find it unaffordable.

  Washington Post September 16, 2020
• This app matches job seekers with employers through hiring process that eliminates ‘unconscious bias’

  In another study about racial disparities in employment by the Economic Policy Institute, African-Americans were found to be twice as likely as whites to be unemployed at every education level.

  WUSA 9 September 16, 2020
• Why Unemployment Claims May Be Overcounted by Millions

  “This does really underscore just how important it is that we make key investments in our data infrastructure, because now we know what it feels like when we don’t have good data,” said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy for the Economic Policy Institute.

  New York Times September 16, 2020
• Median income hit record high in 2019 before the pandemic, Census says
  “The impact that we are seeing now from the pandemic and the recession really are a reflection of these kinds of disparities,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
  CNN September 16, 2020
• Here’s How Joe Biden Could Revive the Economy

  How successfully would Biden’s proposals for public investment stanch these wounds? University of Massachusetts economist Robert Pollin has produced a report for the Sierra Club that estimates the total number of jobs that would be created by Biden’s pledges to increase spending on infrastructure, clean energy, and caregiving, and arrives at the figure of 11.6 million jobs per year. (That figure includes the 1.4 million manufacturing jobs he estimates will be created yearly by the increased spending on those three initiatives.) Of those, 5.2 million would result from the boost to spending on infrastructure, 4.1 million from the boost to clean energy, and 2.3 million from the boost to the caregiving sector. Economist Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute has estimated a comparable number of jobs to those that Pollin projects would be created in caregiving each year—from 1.8 million to 2.4 million.

  The American Prospect September 16, 2020