What happens when hard work isn’t enough? There are a number of handy calculators, such as MIT’s and the Economic Policy Institute’s, that peg a living wage for a family of four residing in a small town at roughly $60,000 to $70,000 a year. That figure is considerably higher for workers living in pricey cities. Now consider that the average full-time production and nonsupervisory worker at an S&P 500 company earned just $41,442 last year, according to data compiled by the AFL-CIO.
Bloomberg
August 7, 2020
The White House has floated the idea of dropping the weekly plus-up to $400, but Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said dropping even to that amount would cause the U.S. to shed 1.7 million more jobs thanks to the loss in spending.
“Because we did not put the public health measures in place necessary to successfully reopen, the coronavirus has spiked and the jobs gains we saw in May and June have stalled, if not reversed,” she said.
Courthouse News Service
August 7, 2020
Black Americans are also more likely to work frontline jobs in public transportation, food services, and other sectors, reports the Economic Policy Institute.
Healthline
August 7, 2020
Right now, federal agencies can use something called a “public interest waiver” to waive Buy American requirements. Research shows, however, that agencies often exploit the waiver, sending billions in taxpayer dollars overseas every year instead of reinvesting that money into American businesses and workers. The Economic Policy Institute estimated in 2015 that these loopholes have cost 100,000 jobs.
Alliance for American Manufacturing
August 7, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. lost over 700,000 jobs to China in the first two years of the current administration, and more than 3.7 million jobs over the past several years. The administration would like you to believe that trend is changing and companies are bringing jobs back, but that simply isn’t true.
MarketScreener
August 7, 2020
Jaimie Worker, the senior state policy coordinator at the economic policy institute, was in the meeting as well. Saying the loss of that $600 per week affects more than those who are unemployed.
“They will no longer be buying things that they have been buying,” Worker said. “And the workers who produce those goods and services that they will no longer be buying will lose their jobs as well.”
WNEM-TV (Michigan)
August 7, 2020
Without any kind of benefit extension, the Economic Policy Institute estimates a resulting economic slowdown would lead to 5.1 million fewer jobs being created over the next year.
CNBC
August 7, 2020
“This should not be a shock,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. “Economic recovery depends entirely on success in managing the spread of the virus, and this management has failed spectacularly since early June.”
Reuters
August 7, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) the knock-on effect of removing that cash from the economy could be severe. The EPI estimated 5mn jobs could be lost by July 2021 if it is cut as consumers are forced to cut back on spending.
“The $600 benefit is essential for millions of people to get food, to pay rent, to care for their children, to afford basic necessities. If it is cut off, it will mean a sharp decline in their living standards, an increase in poverty, and completely unnecessary suffering,” Heidi Shierholz, EPI senior economist and director of policy, wrote recently.
The Guardian
August 7, 2020
A 2016 Economic Policy Institute study revealed 2 million jobs were lost in 2015 from the failed TPP; a total of 1.1 million of them were in manufacturing.
Townhall
August 7, 2020