Despite pleas from big business that H-2–visa hikes are necessary to offset an acute labor shortage, and even avoid bankruptcy, numerous nonpartisan studies find no evidence of scarcity. Among other respected bipartisan organizations, the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal, pro-immigration, Washington, D.C.-based research firm found “no evidence at all of labor shortages in the labor market.”
Post Independent
February 4, 2020
McClellan cited statistics from the Economic Policy Institute that say 17% of domestic workers live in poverty. In Virginia, personal care aides make an average of $21,240 a year, while home health aides earn an average of $23,440 per year, according to the same data.
Fauquier Times
February 4, 2020
Domestic workers are mostly female immigrants, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Sequim Gazette
February 4, 2020
By calling for school choice without having an anti-racist agenda, DeVos abdicates her responsibility to address the structural racism that keeps all schools from reaching their potential. By sidestepping root causes, choice can make matters worse. In many districts, choice has led to the creation of more mediocre options. For instance, in Louisiana, findings from a 2016 Tulane University analysis of the state’s voucher program shows it “had a negative impact on participating students’ academic achievement in the first two years of its operation, most clearly in math.” A 2017 report by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute summarized findings from national and international studies that showed limited improvements at best from voucher programs. Where there were gains in academic performance, the report attributed them to more government oversight and accountability, not less.
The Hechinger Report
February 4, 2020
Parents in the United States are spending about $42 billion on early child care and education, according to a recent report from the progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute.
NBC 12 News
February 4, 2020
America is a tale of two countries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 29,000 in mid-January, a record high. Corporations are posting record profits, CEOs are, on average earning 312 times more than their workers on average in 2018, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Final Call
February 4, 2020
The racial wealth gap is the product of centuries of racialized economic policies (e.g. slavery, residential redlining, and discriminatory immigration policy) that have systematically withheld assets from people of color, while simultaneously overexposing them to predatory debt. Examples of things that drive this disparity are retirement savings and student loan debt. Research by the Economic Policy Institute has found that the shift from defined benefit pensions to 401(k) style retirement savings plans has disproportionately harmed Black and LatinX workers. Further, a Brookings Institution study found that Black graduates have been disproportionately harmed by student loan debt (as Black graduates own $7,400 more in debt than white graduates, which triples to a whopping $25,000 after a few years).
Independent Sector
February 3, 2020
Percent of Minimum Wage Take-Home Pay Needed for Median Rent in 34 Cities [table]
Charlotte Stories
February 3, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan fiscal think tank, more than 60 million American workers are subject to forced arbitration agreements, which are typically buried in employment contracts.
New York Daily News
February 3, 2020
Americans are spending a bigger share of their income than ever on health care costs. According to a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute, workers in the bottom 90% of the income scale had to pay 6.8% of their income for an employer-sponsored family health plan in 1999. By 2016, that number had climbed to 15% of average income. For some consumers, subsidized health care plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) offer a more affordable alternative, but these subsidies aren’t available to everyone.
Money Crashers
February 3, 2020