And yet experts such as economist Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute warn that “wage growth is slower than we should expect in a fully healthy economy”.
And while unemployment is at record lows with 6.1 million unemployed persons in July, the figures don’t speak to the number of people of working age who have dropped out of the workforce entirely because of low wages or the high cost of childcare. “Neither men nor women are back to their pre-recession participation levels,” says Gould.
The Guardian
September 19, 2019
An extension of Attorney General Dana Nessel’s Payroll Fraud initiative announced earlier this spring (see message from 4/30/19 below), nearly 30 bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, seeking to punish employers who “cheat” employees out of their pay and benefits. The Attorney General and House and Senate Democrats are citing a report from the Economic Policy Institute that claims that “unscrupulous business stole an estimated $429 million in wages and overtime pay from Michigan workers between 2013 and 2015”.
Michigan Manufacturers Association
September 19, 2019
Even if you can reduce your budget to $100,000 a year by home schooling your kids or getting lucky enough to send them to a good public school, amassing $1.25 million to $6.67 million is still a lot. According to a tri-annual Economic Policy Institute report, the median retirement balance for Americans between 56 and 61 is under $20,000.
MarketWatch
September 19, 2019
“Do low-wage workers, can they actually withstand such a gradual adjustment in wages?” said Ben Zipperer of the Economic Policy Institute.
The Institute adds providing workers with a living wage contributes to a healthy economy because they buy things.
CBS New York
September 19, 2019
Muhil’s experience isn’t unique. More than half of private-sector employees in the United States who are not represented by a union have signed arbitration agreements, according to a 2018 report from the Economic Policy Institute, and they’re more prevalent in low-wage workplaces, such as OTG’s airport bars and restaurants, as well as industries that employ more women and African Americans. There’s little data on how many unionized workers are covered by these agreements.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
September 19, 2019
Although a 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute estimated that more than 65 percent of companies with 1,000 or more employees use mandatory arbitration, some companies facing #MeToo blowback have begun to abandon the practice.
The Business Journals
September 19, 2019
[Cites EPI] [7] A Well-Educated Workforce Is Key to State Prosperity By Noah Berger and Peter Fisher Economic Policy Institute https://www.epi.org/publication/states-education-productivity-growth-foundations/
Medium
September 19, 2019
Why would you write about Lyft and Uber’s labor issues, they’d ask me, when there are so many sectors with bigger workforces? Lawrence Mishel, then the president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), wrote in 2015 that “dwelling on these companies too much distracts from the central features of work in America that should be prominent in the public discussion.”
Medium
September 19, 2019
Many people drive for companies such as Uber and Lyft because “they don’t get enough from their full-time job,” said Lawrence Mishel, an economist for the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. (Indeed, more than half of Uber’s drivers work less than 10 hours a week, according to the company.)
CNBC
September 19, 2019
While the building trades continue to be characterized as “all old white guys,” says Gabby, in part because such a demographic continues to hold leadership, “that’s very far from the case now” when it comes to the membership. Indeed, the Economic Policy Institute reports that 62 percent of New York City building trades apprentices were nonwhite in 2014, up from 36 percent in 1994. Although all workers will be affected by reductions in pension contributions, it’s these younger, more diverse members who will be hit hardest by the new contract’s shortcomings.
The Nation
September 19, 2019