“A huge share of jobless people will be forced to exist on much less than what they had before,” says Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Shierholz, however, says, “The answer is not to back off the $600 but to make work more attractive,” perhaps by letting recipients continue to receive some of the benefits even when they go back to work. Goldman Sachs believes Congress ultimately will extend the payment but at $300 a week.
USA Today
June 26, 2020
Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, said schools need standards in place for teachers, staff and student safety.
“I don’t know that parents will feel very confident in sending their students back to school if they don’t have consistent enforceable standards,” Wilson said.
Patch
June 26, 2020
The job market is “not really improving,” said Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute. “I do think that people are getting hired back, but we are continuing to see an absolute hemorrhaging of jobs,” Shierholz told The Washington Post. “Just record levels of people.”
The Fiscal Times
June 26, 2020
New reports from the Economic Policy Institute suggest that Black Americans are not only experiencing additional risk factors on their health, there’s also inequality in the job market.
Black Americans are reportedly least likely to be able to continue to work from the safety of their home, and are disproportionately found among the essential workers of today’s economy — meaning they continue to go into their workplace to help and service others.
According to the report, Black Americans make up 1 in 9 workers in the overall general population. However, in the frontline industries, they make up 1 in 6 workers. This means increased exposure to COVID-19.
Healthline
June 26, 2020
More than one in five workers are currently on unemployment benefits or are waiting to get on, according to the Economic Policy Institute, as the U.S. economy continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, those who are unemployed qualify for their standard state benefit and an additional $600 per week from the federal government. But without action from Congress, that extra weekly benefit expires July 31, even as over 19 million people in the U.S. remain unemployed.
CNBC
June 26, 2020
The bottom line: “We don’t have a word for being in a depressed economy that’s growing,” says Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Axios
June 25, 2020
Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, said schools need standards in place for teachers, staff and student safety.
At the federal level, the Trump administration has issued guidance for workers and employers in schools and other sectors, outlining standard precautions. But the guidance is largely voluntary, and so far the Trump administration has resisted calls for new regulations.
“I don’t know that parents will feel very confident in sending their students back to school if they don’t have consistent enforceable standards,” Wilson said.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
June 25, 2020
“We’ve all being saying it’s July 31st, but it’s not,” says Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
USA Today
June 25, 2020