The racial pay gap is well-documented and persistent. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, Black workers “have been losing ground since 2000, with larger [B]lack-white wage gaps across the entire distribution of earnings.” For example, Black wages at the median in 2019 were only 75.6 percent of white wages, a 3.6 percent increase from 2000, when Black wages at the median were 79.2 percent of white wages. Even when looking at wages by education level, Blacks are paid less than whites. Blacks with advanced degrees are paid 82.4 cents for each dollar earned by whites with an advanced degree.
Forbes
June 24, 2020
A 2017 study from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that 2.4 million employees across the ten largest U.S. states lost $8 billion annually to just one form of wage theft — employers paying less than the minimum wage. In states with the most severe cases like Pennsylvania and Texas, researchers found that the average victim lost 30% of their annual salary to wage theft.
Money
June 24, 2020
Ten percent of all jobs in the country are created by an immigrant-owned business, according to the release from the board.
“… American immigrants contribute 15% towards the overall American economy each year, according to the Economic Policy Institute,” the release stated.
The Monitor
June 24, 2020
A report by the Economic Policy Institute based on federal labor data shows that a disproportionately high share of Black and Hispanic workers can’t telecommute for their jobs, putting them at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus, or being laid off as businesses continue to close.
Business Insider
June 24, 2020
Critics of H-1B say the program underpays foreign workers compared to their American counterparts, according to nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute.
Yahoo Finance
June 24, 2020
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute stated that “African Americans have disproportionately high COVID-19 death rates and are more likely to live in areas experiencing outbreaks.” Deaths of blacks from COVID through May 13, 2020 represent 22.4% of all deaths while black Americans represent just 12.5% of the population.
OC Register
June 24, 2020
In These Times
June 24, 2020
By the numbers: Nearly 70% of U.S. employers with 5,000 or more workers have mandatory arbitration policies, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
- “Under such agreements, workers whose rights are violated — for example, through employment discrimination or sexual harassment — can’t pursue their claims in court but must submit to arbitration procedures that research shows overwhelmingly favor employers,” EPI’s Alexander J.S. Colvin writes.
- In total, around 60 million American workers don’t have access to courts due to mandatory arbitration.
Axios
June 24, 2020
That’s in part because the outbreak has closed overseas consular services for foreign citizens wishing to come to the U.S. as immigrants or workers, said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
“The immigration system is basically already shut down. And we haven’t seen any signs of when regular visa processing will open up again abroad. To me, that makes it seem like this is mostly symbolic, and suggests strongly that it’s a political tactic to blame immigrants for an economy that’s shedding millions of jobs because of the pandemic,” said Costa, who in May published research that found the H-1B visa, intended for jobs requiring specialized skills, was being used by employers, including major U.S. technology firms, to obtain cheaper foreign labor.
Mendocino Times
June 24, 2020
Coupled with other coronavirus relief measures, the extra $600 in enhanced benefits has helped many Americans stay afloat — and even save more than usual — throughout the pandemic, with some economists calling it the “best” part of the economic response to the coronavirus. The $600 increase has been “one of the most effective parts of the CARES Act on both humanitarian and economic grounds,” writes Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
CNBC
June 24, 2020