That $17 trillion in 401(k) and IRA accounts is distributed unevenly, though, and isn’t doing enough to stave off a retirement crisis. In 2016 the average American family’s retirement savings was $120,809, but the median family’s savings was a paltry $7,800, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Families in the 90th percentile had $320,000 set aside. In other words, most of those trillions are held by people with the wherewithal and savvy to take advantage of the tax code even as nearly half of families have no retirement savings accounts. Social Security, a safety net for them, might have to slash promised benefits starting in 2035 or even sooner according to its actuaries.
Wall Street Journal
September 18, 2020
As reported in a recent Law360 article on the Economic Policy Institute’s report on recent state attorney general labor and employment activity.
Law360
September 18, 2020
Whatever the motivation, the wage increase is certainly beneficial, and as Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute and formerly the chief economist at the Labor Department in the Obama administration explained to CBS. “If this applies to a reasonable share of their low-wage workers, then that’s really putting their minimum wage at a decent level, and that’s a nice thing to see.”
The List
September 18, 2020
Just 17 percent of workers who’ve gone through the difficult process to secure a court
judgment ordering their employers to pay back wages ever see even a dime of what they’re owed—precisely because companies can simply close up shop and open under a new name. California workers lose an estimated $2 billion from their paychecks to theft from their own employers each year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
San Jose Inside
September 18, 2020
Older workers face a steeper climb if they lose their jobs, with less time before retirement to make up lost wages, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Black and Latino communities have also been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and supporters of “right to return” say it’s a way to keep workers in those communities from being doubly disadvantaged.
WHYY
September 18, 2020
Housekeepers have long had a uniquely precarious foothold in the U.S. labor market. Many people still refer to them as “the help,” which makes the job sound like something far less than an occupation. The Economic Policy Institute found that the country’s 2.2 million domestic workers — a group that includes housekeepers, child care workers and home health care aides — earn an average of $12.01 an hour and are three times as likely to live in poverty than other hourly workers. Few have benefits that are common in the American work force, like sick leave, health insurance, formal contracts or protection against unfair dismissal.
New York Times
September 18, 2020
It becomes even more complicated when gender still plays such a key part. In the U.S., according to the National Women’s Law Center, Black women who work full-time earn just $0.61 for every dollar made by white men. The Economic Policy Institute, a think-tank based in Washington, says that even when controlling for age, gender, education and region, black workers are paid 14.9 percent less than white workers.
Newsweek
September 18, 2020
An infographic created with data from a 2018 Economic Policy Institute report ranks New York as the state with the greatest income disparity between the top 1% of earners and the remaining 99%.
News 10
September 18, 2020
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a report in August that indicated unionized workers earn on average 11.2 percent more in wages than non-unionized peers, meaning workers in the same industry and occupation with similar education and experience. The report authors also said unions help to reduce racial disparities in pay.
NTD
September 18, 2020
Las trabajadoras latinas llegaron a alcanzar en lo peor de la crisis un 20% de desempleo, le dice a BBC Mundo Elise Gould, investigadora del Economic Policy Institute.
BBC Mundo
September 18, 2020