Minimum wage increases in 2020 (starting at 12:15:15)
MSNBC Live
January 3, 2020
Workers of color — specifically, black workers, Hispanic workers, and Asian-American workers — are more likely to get paid poverty-level wages than white workers, according to a 2018 analysis by the liberal-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute.
Business Insider
January 2, 2020
While certain programs that Johnson proposed (like Medicaid) have been expanded over time, other major policies that he saw as central to fighting poverty have deteriorated. Most notably, the value of the minimum wage has declined by more than 30 percent since 1968, when it reached a still record-high value of $10.54 or about $22,000 per year in today’s dollars. Similarly, as the Economic Policy Institute has documented, union membership density has declined steadily since the 1950s, from 33.2 percent in 1956 to 10.5 percent today, while the share of income going to the top 10 percent has increased. The top marginal tax rate has been cut from 91 percent in 1963 to 37 percent today. Other policies that are important today, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, have helped offset declines in the minimum wage and other labor standards (at least for parents), but these were never part of LBJ’s vision for fighting poverty.
CEPR
January 2, 2020
Indeed, the source of the “teacher pay gap” statistic is an annual report by the energetically progressive Economic Policy Institute (EPI). To determine that teachers are paid 21.4 percent less than their peers, the EPI report compares income with years of education and basic demographic information (such as age and marital status), and then attributing any salary differentials to the profession. Yet, as noted above, applying the same methodology to other professions yields some pretty bizarre results. Using the EPI model, for instance, analysts Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine calculate that nurses are “overpaid” by 29 percent, firefighters by 25 percent, and aerospace engineers by 38 percent — while telemarketers are “underpaid” by 26 percent.
The Hill
January 2, 2020
According to estimates by the progressive Economic Policy Institute, the increase will impact 609,000 workers directly and indirectly, and increase incomes by nearly $500 million.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
January 2, 2020
Mandatory arbitration agreements require employees to submit claims of harassment to private — and typically secret — arbitration. Such clauses have played a key role in shielding workplaces where employees have made high-profile allegations of sexual harassment, such as Fox News, from public accountability. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute estimates that more than half of all nonunion private-sector employers now have mandatory arbitration procedures. More on mandatory arbitration from Bloomberg Law.
Politico
January 2, 2020
It’s not a surprise that tech jobs got high ranking. PayScale’s analysis shows that “the proliferation of tech workers into industries outside of the tech sector is a major contributor to continued job growth nationwide.” However, they also impact growth in other sectors thanks to their wages. “A single tech worker is estimated to support 5.7 additional jobs throughout the economy via direct and indirect multiplier effects,” according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Fast Company
January 2, 2020
“Recessions are usually policy mistakes,” said Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute. “We really can keep these recoveries going for quite a long time if we have really careful smart policy.”
CNBC
January 2, 2020
Despite its capitalist-dystopian quality, the StandardToilet fits right in with modern management techniques. Employers try to squeeze as much productivity as possible out of their workers, getting them to do more work each year while paying them the same amount as before. According to the Economic Policy Institute, since 1979 worker productivity has increased nearly 70 percent, meaning they’re working harder and producing more than ever before. But the average wage has only gone up 11 percent, which means that they’re getting paid less for more work. The gains of increased worker productivity have gone straight to the top instead—the average CEO’s pay has increased a whopping 940 percent.
GQ
January 2, 2020
Wages throughout the economy are stagnant. Child care is way too expensive. Moms and Dads don’t have the $20,913 per year the Economic Policy Institute estimates it costs to pay for childcare in this city. It costs less to go to UMass.
Public
January 2, 2020