It’s a frustrating process, says Economic Policy Institute Economist Monique Morrissey, whose expertise lies in retirement security and Social Security.
She says that claimants receiving benefits after appeal “isn’t necessarily a good thing,” because it highlights that most people should have received their benefits from the start.
“Their [SSA] M.O. is to say ‘no’ and tell you that you can appeal,” she said. “The process almost requires getting an advocate, if you can afford to get a lawyer.”
Yahoo Finance
August 21, 2020
But the ability to work remotely “differs enormously by race and ethnicity,” experts from the
Economic Policy Institute have pointed out.
Black and Hispanic workers in the United States are “much less likely” to be able to work from home, economists Heidi Shierholz and Elise Gould wrote in a post in March.
CNN
August 21, 2020
Heidi Shierholz of the progressive Economic Policy Institute said Thursday that the data present a strong argument for Congress to revive the enhanced unemployment benefits that expired at the end of July. “We remain 12.9 million jobs below where we were before the virus hit, and the unemployment rate is higher than it ever was during the Great Recession. Now isn’t the time to cut benefits that support jobs,” she wrote.
The Fiscal Times
August 21, 2020
A well-known Cornell University
study estimated that drivers in Seattle earned an average of $23/hr — but a later study by The New School and UC Berkeley argued
it was only $9.73/hr when accounting for expenses. The
Economic Policy Institute has also broken down how much a driver might really pocket after fees, expenses, and self-employment taxes. According to Alva, pay has gone down in the past several years too. Dubal’s research shows that, between 2014 to 2019, long-term rideshare drivers saw their earnings drop by about 60%.
Refinery29
August 21, 2020
The Virginian-Pilot
August 21, 2020
Meanwhile, even many families with savings don’t have enough money to provide real security during the pandemic. The median savings account balance for families headed by an individual between 56 and 61 years old is just $21,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That balance is even lower among younger families.
The Wall Street Journal
August 21, 2020
Heidi Sheirholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, said that year-over-year wage growth was massive in April, when average hourly earnings stood at 7.9%. (Hourly earnings have previously hovered above 3% in previous months.)
CNET
August 21, 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 21, 2020
With the economic fallout of the pandemic, the stakes are higher than ever. According to the Economic Policy Institute, state and local governments face a $1 trillion shortfall by the end of 2021. In what is sure to be a protracted period of austerity, high unemployment and fraying health care and public welfare systems, our communities deserve better and need more than outsize spending on police.
USA Today
August 21, 2020