Harris has been actively presenting a new LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) Middle Class Act. This act proposes a nearly $3 trillion plan to provide middle and working-class families with a tax credit of up to $6,000 per year for couples making a combined income of $100,000 or less, and a $3,000 tax credit for individuals earning $50,000 or less. This LIFT tax credit would be available in either an annual lump sum or monthly payments. Harris is also advocating for a pay increase for teachers, who are paid 11 percent less than other comparable education jobs (Source: Economic Policy Institute). Harris has proposed a $315 billion plan over 10 years. Her proposal would increase the estate tax and “crack down on loopholes” to pay for a $13,500 raise for teachers (Source: Time).
Entrepreneur
June 24, 2019
According to a 2018 study by Northwestern Mutual, 21 percent of Americans have no retirement savings and an additional 10 percent have less than $5,000 in savings. A third of Baby Boomers currently at, or approaching, retirement age have between zero and $25,000 set aside. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) paints an even bleaker picture, reporting that “nearly half of families have no retirement account savings at all.”
Benefits Pro
June 24, 2019
While many of our legislators would say that only teenagers living at home, working part time and seeking spending money earn the minimum wage, data from the Economic Policy Institute show that this stereotype is a myth. The average age of minimum wage workers is 37, with 90% over 20 — and 37% are older than 40. Sixty percent are women, and 25% have children. Fifty-five percent work full time.
The Morning Call
June 24, 2019
The Economic Policy Institute points out in a recent report on the federal minimum wage that as the cost of living rose over the past 10 years, Congress’ inaction cut the take-home pay of working families.
United Steelworkers
June 24, 2019
About 17 percent of American workers have variable schedules, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. Flexible scheduling is prevalent in sectors ranging from agriculture to restaurants, retail and transportation. Companies can save 10 to 30 percent by matching labor with demand, says Steve O’Brian, vice president of marketing at Shiftboard, a Seattle-based company that makes scheduling software used by employers including United Airlines, Medline and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Crain’s Chicago Business
June 24, 2019
As for Jackson, that paragon of rugged frontier parity? Well, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the winter playground for the rich is the single most economically unequal metropolitan area in America. And, alas, there is no radical democratic experiment afoot to clean that up anytime soon.
Ozy
June 24, 2019
Good luck meeting a family’s food, rent, childcare, medical, and car payment (car ownership is often required in a nation that lacks adequate public transportation) costs on those kinds of returns on labor power. The Economic Policy Institute’s rigorously calculated no-frills Basic Family Budget for a Family of two parents and two children in the relatively low-cost town of Rockford, Illinois is $80, 280. At $12 an hour with both parents working, mom and dad would have to work more than three full-time jobs between them to get by.
Counterpunch
June 24, 2019
Young Americans, meanwhile, are finding it more difficult to afford post-secondary education because their families do not have savings or credit, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Houston Chronicle
June 24, 2019
Ostensibly, the increase in visas for high-skilled computer workers is a needed response to the critical shortage of such workers here—a notion that has been repeatedly dismissed, including in a recent report from the Obama-aligned Economic Policy Institute, which found that the country is producing 50 percent more IT professionals each year than are being employed in the field. The real appeal of the H1B visas for “guest workers”—who already take between a third and half of all new IT jobs in the States—is that they are usually paid less than their pricy American counterparts, and are less likely to jump ship since they need to remain employed to stay in the country. Facebook’s lobbyists, reports the Washington Post, have pressed lawmakers to remove a requirement from the bill that companies make a “good faith” effort to hire Americans first.
New Geography
June 24, 2019
A new paper by the Economic Policy Institute says the impact of America’s teacher shortage isn’t being shared equally along socioeconomic lines. EPI Economist Emma García and EPI research associate Elaine Weiss call the conditions in the teacher labor market a ‘perfect storm.’
Global News
June 24, 2019