In April 2018, we interviewed David Cooper, a senior economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute and deputy director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network, about wage theft. The act isn’t always intentional, he says, but when it is, employers tend to think the benefits outweigh the consequences:
TSheets
June 6, 2019
For instance, when Uber was preparing to go public last month, thousands of drivers took part in protests and demanded living wages. Uber drivers earn on average only $9.21 an hour once vehicle expenses, payroll taxes, Uber fees, and the cost of a “modest benefits package” are subtracted, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Yahoo Finance
June 6, 2019
According to an analysis by the pro-union think tank Economic Policy Institute, people under the age of 35 accounted for 76 percent of new union members in 2017, and one in four new jobs created in America was a union job. In their paper addressing the trends, EPI says younger people are seeking protections in a workforce that continually compels them to accept unpaid internships, part-time wages for full-time hours, and other precarious labor agreements. Such problems have long been endemic in creative fields but have become more pervasive following the rise of a more generalized gig economy.
Scalawag Magazine
June 6, 2019
“Autos and parts are the single most important import, and many parts cross the border multiple times,” Robert Scott at the Economic Policy Institute says. “Tariffs will raise the costs of North American vehicles and reduce their competitiveness with imports from other countries. It is a lose-lose strategy.”
VOX
June 6, 2019
Either way, the Economic Policy Institute has found that the median retirement savings for Americans between ages 56 and 61 is just $17,000. In fact: more than 40% of baby boomers approaching retirement don’t have any savings at all.
MoneyWise
June 6, 2019
Even more shocking, given the veneration of the achievements of the civil rights movement, is that there has been no progress for black Americans with regard to unemployment, homeownership, and incarceration since the push for racial equality reached its peak 50 years ago. As the Economic Policy Institute reports, “In 2017 the black unemployment rate was 7.5 percent, up from 6.7 percent in 1968, and is still roughly twice the white unemployment rate. In 2015, the black homeownership rate was just over 40 percent, virtually unchanged since 1968, and trailing a full 30 points behind the white homeownership rate, which saw modest gains over the same period. And the share of African Americans in prison or jail almost tripled between 1968 and 2016 and is currently more than six times the white incarceration rate.”
Literary Hub
June 6, 2019
According to the agency, once the phase-in is complete in 2026, 250,000 more employees in Washington will be newly eligible for overtime. But that figure doesn’t include employees who technically should already be getting overtime now because their duties don’t really qualify them for exemption. An analysis from Economic Policy Institute shows that just over 400,000 workers, all told, will be newly eligible, or will have stronger protections as a result of the change.
The Stranger
June 6, 2019
- The federal minimum wage is intended to ensure a fair and livable wage for the nation’s lowest-paid workers. However, according to a 2016 report by the Economic Policy Institute, it hasn’t really done that since 1968. If the federal minimum wage had grown in conjunction with American productivity, today’s workers would see more than $18 an hour — more than double the current federal standard. Business owners in Colorado and California were not impacted by the raise. In fact they benefited. People now have more money to spend and are thus more likely to purchase goods and services they never could before. — Erica Jones
Delaware State News
June 6, 2019
Forty percent of Americans are unable to cover a $400 emergency expense, and wages have remained close to stagnant for most people, despite gains for top earners. An analysis from the Economic Policy Institute shows that labor income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans has shrunk by more than 10 percent since 1979—translating to about $10,800 of total lost wages per household. All the while, costs of living—including child care and education costs—have continued to rise, outpacing wage growth for most Americans. With little sign of bipartisan cooperation on pro-worker policies, a tight labor market is the primary area in which most workers can expect to reverse this trend in the coming year.
Center for American Progress
June 6, 2019
When we look at the top 1%, these trends are only exaggerated. According to a 2015 report from the Economic Policy Institute, in the United States, the top 1% of wage earners take home 21% of U.S. income. You can see this as you look at the chart from the report below. These incomes shares are near historical levels for the 1%.
Investopedia
June 6, 2019