Media clips
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The high cost of child care leaves many families struggling to cobble together affordable care arrangements or worrying about whether it makes sense for two partners to stay in the job market. “It’s definitely one of the most pressing issues that’s facing working families with children,” says Zane Mokhiber, data analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, which provides an interactive state-by-state breakdown of child care costs.
U.S. News September 16, 2019 -
Child care is one of the biggest expenses families face, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank created to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.
The Villages Daily Sun September 16, 2019 -
A 2016 study by the Economic Policy Institute, for instance, found that, once the elderly are excluded, more than 70 percent of all public safety-net beneficiaries — including those who receive Medicaid, food stamps, housing aid and cash assistance — are working families or individuals, not unemployed people. Nearly half the recipients of such benefits work full time. A 2015 study, by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, found that the United States spends almost $153 billion every year on benefits for workers, most of them employed full time, and that the people who need government aid to survive include employees of large, profitable corporations such as McDonald’s, Walmart and Amazon (Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post). The study found that about half of fast-food workers, child-care workers and home health aides relied on public benefits — as did a quarter of part-time college faculty members. In New Hampshire, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah and Nebraska, more than 60 percent of all public assistance went to working families, the study found.
In 1968, a full-time worker earning minimum wage could support a family of three, according to an analysis by David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute. Today, such a job is not enough to keep a family of two out of poverty, nor to afford rent on a two-bedroom apartment in any state, county or metropolitan area. Overall, corporations are foisting the burden of supporting workers — regardless of their country of origin — onto taxpayers, and government is acquiescing in that arrangement.
The Washington Post September 16, 2019 -
In 2012, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that there were nearly 2 million domestic workers in the US. Majority of them are women of color – both African Americans and immigrants.
The Filipino Times September 16, 2019 -
Among private sector workers, union membership is now a dismal 6.4 percent. Big business’ assault on workers’ rights has had real consequences. Income inequality has widened, wages for working people have stagnated, the middle class has shrunk and American families are deeper in debt. Corporate profits have been climbing, but the share going to workers has not. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute found that from 1978 to 2018, CEO compensation grew by 940 percent, while workers’ wages increased by just 12 percent.
The National Memo September 16, 2019 -
After years of declining power and stagnant wages, workers in the United States are awakening, striking and demanding more rights. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows the number of striking workers is the highest since 1986. In 2018, 485,000 people went on strike, a number not exceeded since the 533,000 people in 1986, and 2019 will be even larger. Workers should be in revolt, as the Economic Policy Institute found workers have had stagnant wages for three and a half decades even though productivity is increasing.
PopularResistance.org September 16, 2019 -
A recent analysis has found that the pay ratio between a firm’s CEO and its median worker has drastically increased over the decades, according to MarketWatch. The study, conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, said that, in 2018, the CEO-to-median worker pay ratio was 278 to 1. The ratio in 1989, in contrast, was 58 to 1. Going even further back, the ratio in 1965 was 20 to 1. The report also said that CEO pay has increased by 1,008 percent between 1978 and 2018, compared to the 12 percent growth seen in the same time period by the typical worker.
New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants September 16, 2019 -
African American workers are paid less than white ones at every level of education attainment If you’re looking to influence hiring practices at your firm, then here is a similar argument but with a slightly different approach. This report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, Black-white wage gaps expand with rising wage inequality, shows that while more education increases wages for everyone, it doesn’t change the persistent gap between black and white employees, even when controlled for a wide swath of variables. In fact, the gap between black and white employees with bachelor’s degrees and higher has been steadily increasing since 1979. Their recommendation: “Closing this part of the racial pay gap begins with consistent enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in the hiring, promotion, and pay of women and minority workers, as well as greater transparency around within-firm pay by race, ethnicity, and gender.” EPI
Fortune September 16, 2019 -
But even before Trump lashed out at Trumka, labor unions have been under attack in the United States from conservative politicians and employers alike. “Working people have been thwarted” in their attempts to unionize and collectively bargain, says a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Yahoo Finance September 16, 2019 -
There are two problems with this story. One is that the role of technology displacing well-paying jobs is contested empirically. Second, why hasn’t this powerful technology growth also lifted wages? In fact, the link between productivity growth and wages is also contested (full disclosure: by a coterie of researchers in my former place of employment, the Economic Policy Institute).
The American Prospect September 16, 2019