That’s according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. The organization’s Family Budget Calculator shows what’s required for families to maintain a modest standard of living in different areas of the U.S. The annual cost of living in the Syracuse and Albany metro areas topped Buffalo at $96,173 and $101,855, respectively. New York City, including Long Island, ranked highest in the state at $124,129. Why is it so much cheaper to live in Erie and Niagara counties? EPI research assistant Zane Mokhiber pointed to Buffalo’s housing prices,which tend to be lower than other cities across the state. (whole story)
Buffalo Business First
March 14, 2018
Another common industry argument is that raising the tipped minimum wage is ultimately bad for workers. Customers will tip less, that thinking goes, if they know restaurants must pay waiters and bartenders at least the regular minimum wage. There’s no evidence to back up that claim. Waiters and other tipped workers in California and the six other states without a subminimum tipped wage — Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Montana and Minnesota — earn more money and are less likely to live in poverty, according to government data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute, a research organization. (An eighth state, Hawaii, has effectively eliminated the subminimum wage by letting businesses pay tipped workers 75 cents an hour less than the state’s minimum wage of $10.10, but only if those workers earn at least $7 an hour in tips.)
The New York Times
March 13, 2018
Analyst Janelle Jones at the Economic Policy Institute called the recent decline in African-American unemployment “real improvement, it’s a positive trend for black workers.” But she pointed out that other measures of job market success for African-Americans are not as remarkable. “Discouraged workers, underemployed — those are definitely still high for black workers.” The Labor Department defines “discouraged workers” as those who want a job but have given up looking and the “underemployed” as people working part time because they can’t find full-time work. In the past decade, the racial gap in unemployment should have narrowed more, given rising levels of education and job skills among African-Americans, Jones said. (Janelle and EPI quoted throughout)
Marketplace
March 13, 2018
We have good news and bad news. The good news? A new study finds that manufacturing still punches above its weight when it comes to wages. Factory workers earn 13 percent more in hourly compensation than other workers in similar private-sector fields, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study, continuing a long-standing trend that manufacturing offers Americans good-paying work that also serves as a pathway for many to join the middle class. Manufacturing workers also enjoy an advantage in benefits, including when it comes to health insurance and retirement. (whole story)
Alliance for American Manufacturing
March 13, 2018
A brief issued by the Economic Policy Institute indicates that Black women could be especially hurt by the case due to their high participation in public sector union jobs.
Philadelphia Tribune
March 13, 2018
Over the last 50 years in America, the gap between what the typical black household earns and what the typical white household earns has barely budged. According to a report published last month by the Economic Policy Institute, the median black family’s household income in 1968 was 59 percent of the median white family’s income; in 2018, it was only 61.6 percent.
Pacific Standard
March 13, 2018
Fifty years on, mixed progress for black Americans Valerie Wilson for the Economic Policy Institute: Anniversaries of major events are nearly irresistible opportunities to reflect on the past, often with the hope that there has been some progress. So it is this year, 50 years after the Kerner Commission Report on Civil Disorders found systemic inequality and racial discrimination to be at the root of riots across America. In a new report, Janelle Jones, John Schmitt, and I present statistics showing what life was like for African Americans in this country 50 years ago compared to now. That document is a straightforward, unfiltered presentation of the facts, covering a wide range of economic, social, and health outcomes. In the spirit of reflection, I want to focus on racial economic inequality in the labor market, which directly affects approximately 20 million African Americans who get up every day and either go to work or go to find work. (study covered throughout)
The Washington Examiner
March 13, 2018
Tommy talks with Elise Gould, Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute, about how much it costs to live a decent but modest life in the New Orleans area.
WWL.com
March 13, 2018
According to a calculator released last week by think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a single parent with two kids needs $64,170 annually to achieve a “modest but adequate” standard of living in Orleans Parish. EPI estimates housing costs at $12,016 annually, child care costs at $10,093 and transportation at $9,808. Median household income in New Orleans is $37,488, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Gambit
March 13, 2018
That insecurity highlights the unique challenges women face when it comes to saving for their later years. A typical woman makes 84 cents to the dollar that a male worker earns, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CNBC
March 12, 2018