The truth is that most tipped restaurant workers are not working in restaurants where check averages top off in the hundreds of dollars. They are working in diners, low-cost chain restaurants, and are behind the counters at many quick service restaurants. Nearly 70 percent of tipped workers are women, and according to the Economic Policy Institute, tipped workers have twice the likelihood of living in poverty when compared to non-tipped workers, according to a report by the Economic Report Institute.
Eater
October 25, 2019
So should you tip? That is up to you, but know that according to the Economic Policy Institute , Uber drivers generally make $9.21 an hour after accounting for fees and vehicle costs. In some states or cities, Uber drivers make below minimum wage.
Action 10 News
October 25, 2019
Millennials’ ability to save at rates at or above previous generations is contingent on a variety of greater forces. Many graduated into one of the worst recessions in recent history, but much of the current economic situation arose from longer-term trends. According to the Economic Policy Institute, up until the ’80s, productivity and wages grew at the same pace, meaning that workers’ paychecks increased as businesses’ profits rose. That came to an abrupt halt in 1979, and since then productivity has increased 69 percent while hourly compensation has only inched up 11 percent. So people are making more money for their employers than ever before, but the employers are pocketing almost the entire increase.
GQ
October 25, 2019
Qualifying more workers for overtime pay was one of the most ambitious economic efforts of the Obama era. Over the course of several decades, the share of salaried workers automatically eligible for time-and-a-half pay has fallen steadily, from around 60% in 1975 to just 7% in 2016, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. That drop is due to the rules not being updated to cover more workers.
Huffington Post
October 25, 2019
Poverty wages aren’t just a Charlotte problem, of course. Congress hasn’t raised the $7.25 federal minimum wage for 10 years, the longest period since it was created in 1938. Until the early 1980s, a full-time minimum wage job was enough to keep a worker with a child above the poverty line, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank. Not so today. If the 1968 federal minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would now be nearly $12.
A 2016 Economic Policy Institute study found that once the elderly are excluded, more than 70 percent of beneficiaries of public safety-net programs such as food stamps, subsidized housing and Medicaid are working individuals or families, not unemployed. Nearly half of those recipients work full time. With corporate profits and executive pay at record levels, “it is appropriate to question whether employers are effectively passing off a portion of their societal responsibilities on to taxpayers,” writes Matt Cooper, an economic analyst with the institute.
The Charlotte Observer
October 25, 2019
The Economic Policy Institute has calculated how much families need to have “an adequate but modest” standard of living based on the cost of housing, food, transportation, health care, child care, taxes and other necessities around the country. Take a look at what a family of two parents and two children would need in 20 large metro areas to meet this standard.
KEYT
October 25, 2019
Anyone who has been a teacher will tell you that teachers are not in the job for the money. In fact, teachers often unselfishly spend hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to supplement classroom supplies and help students in need. The Economic Policy Institute recently reported that the average public school teacher dips into his or her own pocket for at least $459 per year, which is not reimbursed by school districts.
My San Antonio
October 25, 2019
Economic Policy Institute president Thea Lee and Heritage Foundation research fellow Joel Griffith discuss the economy and its impact on the 2020 elections.
C-SPAN
October 25, 2019
For some perspective on wages, see the Nominal Wage Tracker published out by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the gold standard for labor market numbers. (Note: I am a member of EPI’s executive board.)
Forbes
October 23, 2019
Under the new overtime rule, a clarification of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most salaried workers who earn less than about $35,500 per year will be eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay, up from the current threshold of about $23,700. The change expands overtime eligibility to up to 1.3 million workers. According to Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C., the new rule gives workers $300 million to $600 million per year in wage increases over the next decade.
Construction Pro Tips
October 23, 2019