According to researchers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington, D.C.-based liberal think tank, the top 1 percent of American families took home approximately 26.3 times as much income as the bottom 99 percent in 2015— a 4 percent increase from 2013. The report titled “The New Gilded Age: Income inequality in the U.S. by state, metropolitan area, and county,” is authored by Estelle Sommeiller, socio-economist at the Institute for Research in Economic and Social Sciences in France and Mark Price, an economist at the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who warned about the alarming trends in income inequality spreading across the country.
Zero Hedge
July 27, 2018
We do not always line up behind unions, because many of them have their own histories of racial discrimination that continue, in some cases, until the present day. But Right to Work (RTW) laws have been shown to diminish the wages of black workers (indeed, all workers), whether they are unionized or not. According to an Economic Policy Institute study of wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010–2017, in RTW states, black workers’ wages are on average 11.5 percent less than in non-RTW states like Missouri, while white and Hispanic workers can expect to 15.1 percent and 8.3 percent less, respectively, if Prop A is passed. The impact is even more stark for women, with wages 19 percent lower for white women, 14 percent lower for Hispanic women and 13 percent lower for black women in RTW states.
The St. Louis American
July 27, 2018
As policymakers debate proposals to take food assistance or health coverage away from beneficiaries who don’t work a set number of hours or participate in qualifying work activities, a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) paper shows why such proposals ignore the realities of the low-wage labor market and would do little to boost employment. These proposals, included in state Medicaid waivers and the SNAP provisions of the House-passed farm bill, would harm participants, including many workers, the paper explains. (whole blog)
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
July 27, 2018
A study of income data released by the liberal Economic Policy Institute just last week said that a household needed income of $421,926 to qualify as a member of the “1 percent.” Lee therefore qualifies as a “one-percenter” based on his salary alone, to say nothing of the bonuses he has received in years past, which themselves exceeded many families’ entire annual income.
The Federalist
July 26, 2018
Minnesota’s labor policies and labor market have delivered bigger gains for working families than Wisconsin’s have. Recent research by economist David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C., makes abundantly clear that in the postrecession recovery period, Minnesota’s economy is both stronger than Wisconsin’s and growing more equitably, thanks to progressive policies focused on expanding opportunities for working families, such as investing in our schools, our infrastructure and, yes, raising our statewide minimum wage in 2014. EPI’s analysis found that by virtually every economic indicator available, Minnesota outpaced Wisconsin: number of jobs, wage growth and making progress in closing the gender pay gap, to name a few.
The Star Tribune
July 26, 2018
This seems like a lot, but that salary on its own surprisingly wouldn’t put the justices in the top 1 percent. In 2016, the Economic Policy Institute calculated that a household in the top 1 percent of U.S. income earners overall included those making $389,436, before taxes. And that’s just the U.S. average. In Connecticut, for example, income must be at least $659,979 to qualify for the top 1 percent.
Bustle
July 26, 2018
That’s right, it’s your own backyard. What brings these communities together is a dubious commonality. According to the Economic Policy Institute, they are the top five metropolitan regions in which the one-percenters have seized more wealth than the national peak of income inequality in 1928. That year shouldn’t just ring bells, it should set off alarms. Just a few months later, the Stock Market crashed.
The Stamford Advocate
July 26, 2018
A recent study found that Connecticut ranked third nationwide in overall income inequality. The research done by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit, was based on 2015 IRS tax filings and measured each state’s top one percent earners versus the other 99 percent. (whole story)
WNPR
July 26, 2018
The top 1 percent of families on Kauai gobble up 21 percent of the income. That’s according to a newly-released Economic Policy Institute report on income inequality nationwide. The study ranked Kauai as the most unequal county in the state. There, the top 1 percent make 26 times what the bottom 99 percent take in. The average income of the top 1 percent on Kauai: $1.4 million. The average income of the bottom 99 percent: $55,057
Hawaii News Now
July 26, 2018
A new study revealed that the gap between Charlottesville’s richest and poorest workers is one of the largest in the United States. The 2015 study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute concluded that income inequality in Charlottesville ranks high among the rest of the country. Charlottesville ranked 25th overall out of 916 metropolitan areas, one spot behind Los Angeles, California. (whole story)
NBC 29
July 26, 2018