Media clips

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• EVENT ADVISORY: Ensuring an Economy That Works for Black Women

  Washington, D.C. — Black women play an increasingly critical role in helping to sustain and fuel the U.S. economy. They have among the highest labor force participation rates for women, and Black mothers are more likely to be breadwinners than mothers from any other racial or ethnic groups. Yet the U.S. economy does not deliver the same returns for Black women as it does for other workers, and in the national narrative about the state of the economy, they are often treated as an afterthought or left out altogether.

  On Friday, the latest update of the nation’s employment situation—including overall jobs numbers and unemployment statistics—will be released. Please join CAP for an online event with leading economists to discuss the economic status of Black women as well as the devaluation of Black women’s work, the gaps in investments made during the current pandemic that have further strained Black women’s economic standing, and the need for a more inclusive economic narrative that prioritizes the challenges Black women face.

  WHO:

  Panelists:
  Dr. Rhonda V. Sharpe, Founder and President, Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race
  Dr. Michelle Holder Assistant Professor of Economics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
  Dr. Valerie Wilson, Director, Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, Economic Policy Institute

  Moderator:
  Jocelyn Frye, Senior Fellow, Women’s Initiative, Center for American Progress

  WHEN:

  Friday, August 7, 2020
  11:00 a.m. – 12:00 pm ET

  Center for American Progress August 6, 2020
• ’Please don’t leave our veterans behind,’ Veterans call for passage of the Heroes Act

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska is home to many current service members and veterans. According to the Economic Policy Institute, Alaska is home to about 6,500 state and local government workers who are veterans. This accounts for about 10% of the workforce in those sectors.

  KTUU-TV August 6, 2020
• The Republican Coronavirus Plan Is Sadistic

  For example, HEALS contains no federal aid for state and local governments, which are now hemorrhaging tax revenues. The result will inevitably be cuts. When that happens, not only will services disappear but so will public-sector jobs, placing financial strain on both service providers and recipients. Since that means more people with less money in their pockets to keep businesses afloat, economic consequences for the private sector will soon follow. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that 5.3 million people could lose their jobs in the public- and private-sectors combined due to a lack of federal funding for state and local governments.

  Jacobin August 6, 2020
• Trump says ‘radical left-wing Democrats’ want federal stimulus aid to states. Here’s Murphy’s response.

  Meanwhile, Republican-led Texas shed 112,100 state and municipal government jobs from February to June, more than any state but California, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive research group.

  NJ.com August 6, 2020
• Veterans will be disproportionately affected if the Senate fails to provide state, local aid

  And a large share of those at-risk government employees are veterans, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  AFSCME August 6, 2020
• ‘We make it happen:’ CT teachers talk money they spent for supplies during shutdown

  Teachers already were accustomed to paying for classroom supplies and materials before the start of a new school year. According to National Center for Education Statistics survey data from the 2011-12 school year, Connecticut teachers reported spending an average of $397 of their own money. According to an analysis of those numbers from the Economic Policy Institute think tank, the 2011-12 numbers are lower than a survey from 2015-16 that did not include state-level data because of the impact the Great Recession had on discretionary spending.

  Stamford Advocate August 6, 2020
• Women Lose Decade’s Worth of Economic Advancement

  Depending on the length of this recession and when an effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is developed, there is a real possibility many jobs lost by women will never come back, said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute.

  As it stands, about 8% of women who have been laid off have zero chance of being called back to the workforce compared to 6.4% of men, according to an analysis by EPI. Another 4% expect to be called back but likely will not.

  The Daily Record August 6, 2020
• Largest union federation says Republican stimulus plan ‘totally fails’ and will harm economy

  “Aside from the reckless and unconscionable delay, the HEALS Act fails miserably on two crucial objectives: supporting the people most harmed by the coronavirus recession and ensuring a robust economic recovery,” Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said in a Tuesday statement.

  Newsweek August 4, 2020
• US jobless claims on the rise, accelerating with virus infections

  By the Economic Policy Institute’s count, the $600 UI benefit also helped the economy retain roughly 5 million jobs.

  Although fiscal conservatives worry the unemployment bonus disincentives workers from returning to work, many economists point that the benefits of feeding the economy through the crisis outweigh the negatives.

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics surveyed 4.8 million people who returned to work in June, bringing the unemployment rate below 12%. Despite the gains, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute Heidi Shierholz estimated there remain 14 million more unemployed people than available jobs.

  Courthouse News August 4, 2020
• Stop Tallahassee preemption to save earned sick time

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, people of color also make up the majority of essential workers in several sectors, including food, agriculture, and industrial.

  Orlando Sentinel August 4, 2020