Right now, the price of food doesn’t reflect any of those factors. In fact, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, corporate profits accounted for 54 percent of food price increases between 2020 and 2021. For the four decades prior, only 11 percent was attributed to corporate profits, the rest to the cost of labor.
Civil Eats
May 22, 2023
“It’s absolutely the case that many employers prefer tipping to paying adequate straight wages to employees,” Ben Zipperer, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told Insider, adding, “the entire cost is paid for by the customer when workers have to rely on tips for wage increases.”
Business Insider
May 22, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute puts North Carolina’s minimum living wage for one adult and one child as of 2020 at $48,346.
WITN
May 22, 2023
Between 2017 and 2020, more than $3 billion in stolen wages were recovered by the U.S. Department of Labor, state departments of labor (must be nice to have one!), attorneys general, and through litigation, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Orlando Weekly
May 22, 2023
The Iowa legislation is among at least 14 bills introduced this year in legislatures around the country that weaken child labor protections, according to a new analysis by the union-backed Economic Policy Institute.
NBC News
May 22, 2023
In all, the Economic Policy Institute wrote on Friday that the bill constitutes a “major win” for workers in the state.
Truthout
May 22, 2023
A new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found the Class of 2023 is graduating into the best labor market for young workers since 1953.
Fox Business
May 22, 2023
Speaking of work requirements, more and more older Americans are being forced by economic necessity to work in dangerous jobs. According to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute, nearly half of older workers (ages 50–70) experience physically demanding jobs (50.3%), environmental hazards (54.2%), difficult schedules (53.7%), high-pressure jobs (46.1%), or limited autonomy over work decisions (45.9%). In addition, one-in-seven older workers (14.1%) are on the receiving end of abusive and violent behavior.
Counterpunch
May 19, 2023
A slight majority of Americans over the age of 50 now report having physically demanding jobs, meaning they feel their work is either physically taxing, stress-inducing or outright dangerous.
In fact, according to a major new analysis and accompanying chart book published by the Economic Policy Institute, some 50.3% of older workers say they have physically demanding jobs, while an even larger majority (54.2%) of older workers report being exposed to unhealthy or hazardous conditions at work.
Think Advisor
May 19, 2023
But farmworkers earn “far less than even some of the lowest-paid workers in the U.S. labor force,” according to the Economic Policy Institute. And the overwhelming majority of farm laborers in the United States are Latine, while more than 40% are undocumented.
YES! Magazine
May 19, 2023
What is feminist economics? A lot of people listening to this show, I think, probably don’t even know that such a discipline or subdiscipline exists. I didn’t know until a few years ago, but I started reading about it and started reading some of Nancy’s work and what she has to say is interesting to me because it fits into this broader category of talking about a new economic paradigm and changes in the economic profession that we have discussed on this show with other guests like Brian Deese, like Heidi Shierholz of Economic Policy Institute. And I think feminist economics in the way it challenges those neoclassical assumptions is an important part of this puzzle.
New Republic
May 19, 2023
“Millions of people are entering their retirement years with insufficient savings to cover basic expenses and medical bills,” the new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) notes. “In response, some policymakers have proposed that older Americans could delay retirement to increase their savings.”
But this ostensible fix “overlooks the large group of older Americans who work in difficult conditions—ranging from the physically demanding to the outright dangerous,” EPI points out. “If older Americans endure difficult conditions that often force earlier exits from the workplace, proposals to delay retirement make little sense.”
Common Dreams
May 19, 2023
Thus far, most of the regulatory scrutiny has focused on the possibility that reduced competition would mean higher grocery prices for shoppers. But a report released this month by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reveals that the deal could have a major impact on the wages of grocery store workers. According to the EPI report, the proposed merger would “reduce the number of outside employment options available to workers, lowering grocery store workers’ annual wages by a total of $334 million.” That works out to about $450 less annually per worker, which is a significant reduction for a workforce already hovering at or below the poverty line.
Popular Information
May 19, 2023
The Bureau of Labor Statistics identified three main culprits behind inflation since 2020 — energy price volatility, backlogs resulting from supply-chain issues, and price changes in auto-related industries. Separate pieces of research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute have shown that increased corporate profits have also been contributing to inflation.
Investment News
May 19, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute, a research group, said the difference between teacher pay and pay for college-educated people in other professions reached a record 23.5 percent in 2021.
Voice of America
May 19, 2023
The regulatory advocacy group and 19 other organizations—including the Service Employees International Union and the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute—have recently asked OSHA to protect employees’ mental health by limiting electronic surveillance and production quotas.
Bloomberg Law
May 19, 2023
Thanks to inflation and congressional inaction, the minimum wage now has less purchasing power than any point in time since 1956, according to the Economic Policy Institute. When Congress fails to raise the federal minimum wage despite skyrocketing costs of living, the job falls on state and local governments. At least 30 states and 50 cities and counties have raised the minimum wage past $7.25.
Truthout
May 19, 2023
Illian argued investors benefit from income equality — and pointed to a study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute that found income inequality drags on GDP by 2% to 4% a year.
CNBC
May 19, 2023
A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute shows the Class of 2023 is graduating into a stronger labor market for young workers, as measured by lower unemployment and underemployment rates, than the year prior’s graduating class. The youth unemployment rate for young people, ages 16 to 24, hit 7.5% in March, a 70-year low, the study found. The figure also reflects a downtick in the overall U.S. unemployment rate, which fell to 3.5% during the same period, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
“The very low [youth] unemployment rate now is incredibly striking,” EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould told CBS MoneyWatch.
CBS News
May 19, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, one of the most egregious rollbacks was recently signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Truthout
May 19, 2023
“The indication is that the White House is not giving up,” said Celine McNicholas, a lobbyist for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg Law
May 19, 2023
Crain's Detroit Business
May 19, 2023
A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that the large-scale introduction of electric vehicles could trigger the loss of over 250,000 jobs in automobile assembly and parts production.
These job losses could be offset by a significant strengthening of industries in the EV supply chain.
Jacobin
May 19, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the unemployment rate among Hispanic workers as of the end of 2022 in Pennsylvania was 6.7% — which was the second highest in the country.
Lancaster Online
May 19, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2021 that gap was 23.5%. Teachers earned an average of 76.5 cents for every dollar that other professionals with the same level of education earned.
WKBW (Buffalo)
May 19, 2023
(Paywall). Quotes Jennifer Sherer.
Law360
May 19, 2023
NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe asks Samantha Sanders of the Economic Policy Institute how not raising the debt ceiling would affect the average American.
NPR Weekend Edition
May 19, 2023
A default would be felt first by Americans who receive payments either directly from the federal government or programs funded by it — like Social Security, military and veterans benefits, housing assistance and food stamps — says Samantha Sanders, the director of government affairs and advocacy at the Economic Policy Institute.
And, as she told NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, the economic effects would ripple outward from there.
People in low- and medium-income ranges could struggle to pay their bills and cut back on spending. The Treasury could delay payments, rattling financial markets and wiping out household wealth. And people could see higher rates for things like mortgages and credit card interest.
NPR Morning Edition
May 19, 2023