The wage gap between teachers and comparable professionals has grown over time, with teachers now earning 18.7 percent less than other college-educated workers, according to a new analysis. A new paper published by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank supported by labor unions, found that the “teacher wage penalty” has increased significantly—teachers earned just 1.8 percent less than comparable workers in 1994. And although teachers do receive better benefits packages than their college-educated peers, those benefits only mitigate part of the gap: Including benefits, teachers face an 11 percent compensation penalty. (whole story)
Education Week
September 6, 2018
Teachers are making less today than they did more than 20 years ago and their wages have fallen relative to comparable workers, according to a new research paper by the labor-friendly Economic Policy Institute. When adjusting for inflation, teacher pay has decreased by $27 a week since 1996, falling from $1,164 weekly to $1,137 in 2017. Meanwhile, the study found, other college graduates’ average weekly wages have increased from $1,339 to $1,476 over the same time period. (whole story)
The Houston Chronicle
September 6, 2018
When researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) looked deeper at these trends, they found that female, senior teachers had been most affected by declining wages. In 1996, teachers in this group earned 8% more than similarly qualified females in other professions. By 2015, that had become a wage penalty, as female, senior teachers earned 14% less than their peers in other jobs. The institute flags this as a particular concern given that these employees are “some of the most experienced in the profession” and are having to delay retirement as a result of falling wages. (EPI research/charts cited throughout)
The Guardian
September 6, 2018
Educators and students across the country have headed back to school. But a new study finds more and more teachers are struggling as the gap widens between what they’re paid and what they could be making in other lines of work. A report out today from the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute shows, on average, U.S. teachers make about 24 percent less than professionals with similar levels of education who work in other fields. The report shows the pay gap began growing in late 1990s as wages in other labor markets were increasing, but education wasn’t keeping up. (whole story)
WXPR
September 6, 2018
Wages and compensation for public school teachers in the U.S. have eroded over the past two decades relative to other comparable professions, according to new research. The liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute released a paper on the topic on Wednesday, noting that teacher pay took center stage earlier this year in strikes by educators in states including West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona. (whole story)
Route Fifty
September 6, 2018
Arizona teachers make 36 percent less than comparable workers in other professions, according to the Economic Policy Institute. It’s the largest teacher-pay gap in the nation. In other words, if you’re willing to pay for four (or six or eight) years of college in Arizona, you’ll probably make a lot more doing anything else other than teaching. (whole opinion)
Arizona Republic
September 6, 2018
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that the gap between wages for teachers and wages for other college graduates has grown to its highest-ever levels. According to the report, wages for American teachers are now 18.7 percent below the wages of their college-educated peers in other industries. This teacher wage penalty has grown substantially: the teacher wage penalty was just 1.8 percent in 1994, but has since grown to a record 18.7 percent in 2017. (whole post)
The Progressive Pulse
September 6, 2018
With “sloppily applied tariffs” as the centerpiece of the administration’s trade policy, “we can expect to get all of the pain from higher import prices but little of the gain” that would come from a more strategic levying of duties, said Thea Mei Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington. (Thea quoted throughout)
USA Today
September 6, 2018
Tariffs newly implemented under Trump, however, affect only 0.1 percent of the U.S. economy, said Thea Lee, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, during the committee hearing. Tariffs to be potentially implemented in the coming months and years would total only about 0.8 percent of GDP at most, even assuming that tariffs apply to all motor vehicles and parts, she said. Lee and Heritage Foundation distinguished visiting fellow Stephen Moore agreed during the hearing, however, that the Trump administration’s trade policy has been largely incoherent, but Moore expressed optimism that the short-term pain wrought by tariffs will ultimately yield long-term gain.
American Shipper
September 6, 2018
“The Trump administration’s tariffs have been erratically implemented, inconsistently messaged and sometimes apparently motivated by politics or whim. Rather than seeking to coordinate a comprehensive and coherent strategy in conjunction with our allies and complementary to our domestic policies, this administration appears to have no overarching strategy or goal in sight,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank affiliated with the labor movement. The approach will mean Americans “can expect to get all of the pain from higher import prices, but little of the gain” through increased exports, jobs and domestic production, she added.
Automotive News
September 6, 2018