An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that 88.3% of farmworkers could be eligible for paid leave under the FFCRA (including H-2A workers). However, the vast majority of farms in the U.S. could qualify for the act’s small business exemptions. That means if every farm that could be exempt applied and got approved, about two-thirds of farmworkers would no longer be guaranteed paid leave.
KUNC
May 6, 2020
But he tossed all that aside. Trump’s massive corporate tax cuts were a boon to the rich and did little for workers. He badly undermined worker protections and tried to roll back the Affordable Care Act’s protections for millions. Trump and Republicans are still trying to destroy those protections amid a pandemic.
The Washington Post
May 6, 2020
By the numbers: States have processed unemployment claims for roughly one in five working Americans — some 30.3 million people — in just 6 weeks.
- And yet the Economic Policy Institute estimates as many as 13.9 million more Americans out of work since mid-March have been unable to get unemployment benefits because “long-neglected state [unemployment] systems are unable to handle the volume of applications.”
Axios
May 6, 2020
Life in the U.S. today can feel dark. Sure, we can’t predict the future, but the country has found itself in a similar position before. And, while history doesn’t exactly repeat itself, there are things we could learn from the trials of the nation, just under a century ago, when tens of millions were out of work.
To unpack these questions and more, we spoke with Elise Gould, senior economist from the Economic Policy Institute, and Rebecca Dixon, the executive director of the National Employment Law Project.
NPR
May 6, 2020
In this video, we explain how and why the UK, Denmark, and the Netherlands chose a different path. With the help of economist Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute, we explore whether the US can still avoid millions more job losses.
VOX
May 6, 2020
With stay-in-place laws and mandatory closing of most businesses, unemployment has skyrocketed. Before the pandemic it was at 3.5 percent in December 20, as of April 2020, the Economic Policy Institute has estimated that unemployment rate to be at 18.3 percent. Many economists using April’s Labor Department data predict that the unemployment rate could reach 25 percent this summer if the existing practices remain in force. That level would match the peak of the Great Depression in 1933. However, then it took three years not six months to reach that level.
Daily Kos
May 6, 2020
Dr. Chris Beyrer, professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins, added that “occupational exposure” is expected to present higher risks for African Americans and Latinos as states move ahead with reopening. Only 16 percent of Latinos and 20 percent of African Americans are able to work from home, compared with 30 percent of white Americans, according to an analysis of Labor Department statistics by the Economic Policy Institute.
Politico
May 6, 2020
An estimated 9.2 million workers likely lost health coverage sponsored by employers over the past month as workplaces shuttered due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Spouses and family members are often covered by the same health plan, so millions more people have likely lost health coverage during this unprecedented public health crisis. Thanks to loss of income, even people who retain health insurance independent from employment are having trouble paying for it. As Truthout has reported, researchers estimate that 2 million people living without health insurance will be hospitalized for COVID-19, putting further strain on hospitals that have been overwhelmed by the crisis.
Truthout
May 6, 2020
“Among the top 30 H-1B employers are major US firms, including Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, Google, Apple and Facebook. All of them take advantage of program rules in order to legally pay many of their H-1B workers below the local median wage for the jobs they fill,” said the report released by the Economic Policy Institute.
Authored by Daniel Costa and Ron Hira, the report titled “H-1B visas and prevailing wage levels” says 60 per cent of H-1B positions certified by the US Department of Labour (DOL) are assigned wage levels well below the local median wage for the occupation.
The Tribune India
May 6, 2020