Media clips

• This Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, Addressing the Gender Gap Is Essential Work

  As the Economic Policy Institute indicated through its own research, not only do Black women experience disparities in all these fields, but they experience them at every socioeconomic level. For instance, Black female doctors are paid 73 percent of the average hourly wage of non-Hispanic white male doctors—a $16.82 hourly shortfall. Meanwhile, Black women who work as waitstaff are paid 89 percent less, comprising a difference of $1.13 per hour. And the inequalities persist, even when Black women comprise the majority of the respective workforce in that field.

  The Root August 14, 2020
• Why Trump’s ‘war’ on USPS impacts working families: EPI

  Economic Policy Institute Economist Monique Morrissey joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers to discuss the concerns over cost-cutting at USPS.
  Yahoo Finance August 14, 2020
• Equal Pay Day for Black women is today, August 13th. There’s a reason for that
  Nor does it reflect that Black women typically work fewer hours and therefore make less than White men. That’s in part because they’re more likely to be unemployed or work part-time, said Valerie Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the liberal Economic Policy Institute.
  CNN August 14, 2020
• Another huge unemployment wave is coming—and there’s an obvious way to stop it

  And these awful projections might be best-case assessments. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows the spending generated by that extra $600 is supporting 5 million jobs. If the dollars disappear, so will the jobs they support.

  Fortune August 14, 2020
• August 14
  August 14, 2020
• ‘Morally Obscene,’ Says Sanders as McConnell Adjourns Senate for Month-Long Recess Without Deal on Coronavirus Relief

  But Julia Wolfe, state economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog post Thursday that the Labor Department’s report downplays the number of workers who filed for unemployment benefits last week. The actual figure, according to Wolfe, is 1.3 million.

  “Astonishingly high numbers of workers continue to claim UI, and we are still 12.9 million jobs short of February employment levels,” Wolfe wrote. “And yet, Senate Republicans allowed the across-the-board $600 increase in weekly UI benefits—the most effective economic policy crisis response so far—to expire.”

  Common Dreams August 14, 2020
• Nation’s wealthiest Black man says corporate America should consider slavery reparations

  A Brookings Institute analysis found that in 2016, the typical white family had a net worth nearly 10 times that of a Black family ($171,000 compared to $17,150). In 2019, the average wage gap between a Black and White worker in the U.S. was 26.5%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Smith also noted that 70% of African American communities do not have a branch bank, meaning it can be much harder to obtain credit.

  ABC News August 14, 2020
• More than 1 in 3 Black women are on the front lines of the pandemic, but they aren’t even close to equal pay

  In fact, Black women doctors, nurses, teachers, child-care workers, waitresses and cashiers are, on average, paid 11-27% less than White men who are working the same job, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  “I think there’s a lot of attention given to gender pay gaps in general and much less to the intersectional nature of the gender pay disparity for Black women, Latinas, Native American women and even for Asian-American and Pacific Islander women,” Valerie Wilson, a director for the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity and the economy, tells CNBC Make It. “You know, it’s important that we understand that the gender pay gap has multiple dimensions and Black women, in particular, face dual penalty because of gender and race.”

  CNBC August 14, 2020
• Opinion: Time to raise the minimum wage

  Minimum wage was established in 1938 in the throes of economic depression; morale was low and poverty was high. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to stimulate the economy by increasing purchasing power. Over time, wages have gradually increased every few years. In 1956, wages reached $1.00 an hour ($9.55 today). By 1968, wages reached $1.60 ($11.65 today). But after 1968, wages dropped away from productivity, while inflation increased. Though wages continued increasing, they did not keep pace with inflation, leaving the government playing catch up on mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that if wages kept pace with productivity, minimum wage could be approaching or above $20 today.

  We have seen thousands of front-line workers risk their lives during the global pandemic. Not just health care workers, but grocery store employees, fast food drive-thru operators and Amazon factory workers. These front-line jobs are disproportionately held by minority and female workers. Women and minorities are historically overrepresented in low-wage jobs and less likely to work and live in areas where the minimum wage is above the federal level. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that increasing the minimum wage to $15 would give 38% of Black and 33% of Hispanic workers a raise. Nearly 60% of the typical workers who would benefit are women.

  The Philadelphia Tribune August 14, 2020
• The Black Lives Next Door

  Last year in San Mateo, Calif., a history teacher at Hillsdale High School conducted a mock hearing of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sophia Heath, then a freshman, played an anti-apartheid lawyer. She recalls that she “was really excited and that was the beginning of where my activism started.” On the web, she found Coalition Z, a youth group that registers voters and presses officials to combat climate change, provide more equitable school funding and enact gun control. Ms. Heath started a local chapter.

  The New York Times August 14, 2020