New figures from the Economic Policy Institute show Latinas make much less, about 56% of what white men are paid, and 66% of what white women earn.
91.5 KJZZ
November 26, 2019
24/7 Wall St. reviewed cost of living estimates from financial think tank the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator. The estimates are of the costs needed for a family of two (two adults and no children) to lead a “modest yet adequate standard of living.” These costs include all of the basic necessities for a decent life, including housing, food, transportation, health care, and other necessities, as well as taxes. The income required varies from just under $43,000 in one state to over $66,000 in another. This is much higher than the Census Bureau’s official poverty threshold for a household with two people — $16,247.
24/7 Wall St.
November 26, 2019
Wage growth has been tepid over the past few years, while home prices are going through the roof. | Source: Economic Policy Institute
CCN
November 26, 2019
In a country where homeownership has long been the way to build wealth, discrimination in housing is uniquely harmful. It is the chief reason behind the deep segregation in New York’s public schools, which is among the worst in the country. It also helps explain the startling racial gap in wealth in the United States. The median wealth of white Americans is $134,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The median wealth of black Americans is $11,030.
The New York Times
November 25, 2019
This policy failure, exacerbated by the effects of technological progress, led to what the economist Dennis J. Snower calls as the “decoupling” of economic and social trajectories: even as GDP grew, real wages and prospects for advancement stagnated or deteriorated for large swaths of the population. For example, the Economic Policy Institute reports that, from 1979 to 2018, net productivity in the US rose 70%, but real hourly wages increased by only 12%. Today, 14% of Americans – more than half of whom are people of color – are “working poor” (full-time workers with incomes that are less than 200% of the poverty line).
Project Syndicate
November 25, 2019
This past weekend, on Saturday, I was pleased to host a job fair in Cuney Homes, with participation from HEB Grocers, a storied Texas business. The need for the job fair was manifest: As the employment rate hovers around 3.7% for all Americans, this is an incomplete number for some Americans. Many of the available jobs are unfilled because many lack the skills to fill them. And, it is an imprecise number because the number is higher for Latino communities and almost two full points higher for African American workers. This is as much a function of racial minority as it is socioeconomic status. And here in Harris County, Texas, the demographics speak to the opportunities needed for minority communities. In Harris County, over 60 percent of the population is either Hispanic and Latino or African American. Thus, it follows that communities of color are distinctly susceptible to downturns in the economic market. More precisely, the African American community continues to fall behind in their efforts to make the gains of their white counterparts. In fact, the chasm between these groups is widening. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in a report from earlier this year, the median black worker made just 75% of what an equivalent white worker did, and that number is lower than when it was measured in 2000. And, a recent statistic by the University of Chicago indicates that the gap between whites and African Americans is nearly as big as it was in the 1950s. And, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of college-aged undergraduate students were employed was higher among part-time students, 81%, than among full time students, 43%. These numbers are lower in 2017 than were in 2005. This is attributable to many reasons, not the least of which is the dearth of jobs that can be filled by these Americans.
Houston Style Magazine
November 25, 2019
It also should be noted that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart collectively have pledged to spend $110 million on a ballot initiative that would exempt them from regulations of the California law. Meanwhile, there has been no need for these companies to spend a dime on a ballot measure to be exempted from our state’s law because they’ve been allowed by our attorney general to get away with violating it.
Boston Globe
November 25, 2019
An earlier study from the project found much larger negative effects on employment. That study came under intense criticism for data limitations (it doesn’t include employers with locations both in Seattle and outside, because the part of Washington outside of Seattle serves as the control group).
VOX
November 25, 2019
Ramirez emphasizes the event, which will host over 100 individuals this year, will address the need for greater pay transparency at companies, the need for universal paid parental leave and the positive impact unions have on closing the pay gap. According to a 2017 report from the Economic Policy Institute, unionized working women, on average, are paid 94 cents to every dollar earned by unionized working men. Additionally, according to EPI, unionized working women are more likely to have access to paid leave, paid sick days and vacation time.
CNBC
November 25, 2019
“At every level of education, white non-Hispanic men are paid more than Hispanic women. What’s also clear from the data is that further education does not close their sizable wage gaps with white non-Hispanic men,” the Economic Policy Institute reports. “As Hispanic women increase their educational attainment, their pay gap with white men generally increases. The largest dollar gap (more than $18 an hour), occurs for workers with more than a college degree. Even Hispanic women with an advanced degree earn less than white men who only have a bachelor’s degree. That statistic bears repeating: white non-Hispanic men with only a college degree are paid, on average, $6.81 more than Latinas with an advanced degree!”
Daily Kos
November 25, 2019