Media clips
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In some instances, it’s a too-small nest egg that leaves retirees looking to fill the income gap. An analysis from the National Institute on Retirement Security found that 65 percent of American households are at risk of falling short in retirement. The mean retirement savings for households aged 56 to 61 is less than $164,000, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, far short of the $1 million or more that industry experts recommend.
U.S. News & World Report September 9, 2016 -
Valerie Wilson, an economist at think tank Economic Policy Institute told CNN the black unemployment rate “would be unacceptable if that were the national rate.” According to the Economic Policy Institute, “Wages of black workers are more responsive to aggregate labor market changes. Doubling the national unemployment rate is estimated to reduce real hourly wages by at least 8 percent for the median black worker, compared to 3 percent for the median white worker.” This means that while the decline in unemployment can overall be seen as positive, the wages of people of color were disproportionately impacted over the course of the recession and its recovery compared to whites. Furthermore, despite the aforementioned increase in the number of black-owned businesses, they still only make up 7 percent of all U.S firms.
Complex September 9, 2016 -
In the debates about what is fueling widening inequality and persistent wage stagnation among lower earners, the decline of unions usually takes a back seat to globalization and automation. But a new study from the Economic Policy Institute suggests that weakened union power and shrinking union density may play a bigger role than previously thought. That’s because its not just union members who benefit from collective bargaining. According to the report, “unions, especially in industries and regions where they are strong, help boost the wages of all workers by establishing pay and benefit standards that many nonunion firms adopt.” Highly unionized states have driven the push for an increased minimum wage, for example. Employers of nonunion workers might raise pay to prevent workers from organizing or leaving for higher paying union jobs.
Next City September 9, 2016 -
According to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, Ohio suffered some of the highest jobs losses of any state as a result of NAFTA. A recent report by EPI also states that America lost 2 million jobs in 2015 due to trade deficits with nations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ohio, along with fellow Rust Belt states Michigan and Indiana, made the top 10 list of states most affected. President Barack Obama has made passing the TPP trade bill a key priority during his last months in office.
Moyers & Company September 9, 2016 -
Without access to child-care services on campus, student parents, a majority of whom are raising children by themselves, are forced to find alternative options that can be pricey. In 33 states and the District of Columbia, infant-care costs exceed the average cost of in-state college tuition at public four-year colleges, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Washington Post September 8, 2016 -
On Wednesday, Rosenfeld discussed the changing labor movement and a new study from the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, which he contributed to. He also discussed what led to the downfall of union membership in the United States. On the surface he said, automation and globalization are partly to blame. Yet, peer nations overseas face the same issues and their labor movements remained comparatively strong.
St. Louis Public Radio September 8, 2016 -
Nearly half of Americans have no retirement savings at all, reports the Economic Policy Institute. And while the average retirement savings for American families is $95,776, the large number of families with no savings at all means the median family has just $5,000 saved. The reasons are largely twofold: Many families don’t earn enough to cover basic expenses, and so live paycheck to paycheck, and many workers don’t have easy access to retirement savings accounts. In fact, about half the private sector workforce — approximately 55 million Americans — lack access to a retirement plan through their employers, says the AARP.
The Week September 6, 2016 -
It’s also a brute fact that workers’ wages have declined or stagnated because the bargaining power of employees has been drastically undercut. A just-released study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that the weekly wages of non-union men without college degrees employed in the private sector would have been 8 percent higher in 2013 if union density had remained at 1979 levels.
The Washington Post September 6, 2016 -
None of this mollifies activists who want the ratio to return to more historical norms. They point out that average CEO pay last year was $15.5 million, 276 times more than what an average nonsupervisory worker would make in the private sector. True, that’s not as high as during the dot-com bubble of 2000, when CEO pay soared to 376 times the average worker’s income. But it’s nearly 10 times the 30-to-1 ratio that existed in 1978, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a liberal Washington think tank. And because so much of CEO pay is tied to the price of the company stock, the ratio could rise again if the stock market soars again. CEO pay “is high and I think it’s going to grow,” says Lawrence Mishel, president of EPI. “We’re on track to reestablish a new high.”
The Christian Science Monitor September 5, 2016 -
The chart shows these costs, as calculated by the Economic Policy Institute, for two family types in nine metropolitan areas, a single worker and a single worker with one dependent child. These calculations indicate that a wage of about $13.45 is necessary for a single worker in Colorado Springs, but $15.67 is required in Chicago and $21.07 in Washington, D.C. With a dependent child, the basic-needs wages in these cities jump to $24.90, $26.40, and $39.35, respectively. In short, a $15 wage would not come close to covering a basic-needs budget for a family with a single dependent child anywhere in the United States… The closest thing we have to a reliable estimate of the net effects of a $15 wage is a recent comprehensive study on the New York state proposal done by the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Like the results calculated by EPI’s David Cooper, this study estimates that raising New York’s wage floor from $9 to $15 will increase earnings for about 3.2 million workers and increase average pay for those getting raises by 23 percent (about $5,000 a year). While the study’s model suggests there may be as many as 78,000 lost jobs, these are expected to be more than offset by the (more certain) gains from increased consumer demand, leading to a slight positive net effect (3,000 jobs)… There is another benefit. Means-tested social spending is increasingly tied to work, through the Earned Income Tax Credit, food stamps, and other programs. Much of America’s public assistance goes to working families with very low incomes, effectively subsidizing low-wage employers. According to the Berkeley Labor Center, about $13.1 billion is spent on public assistance for working families in New York state; EPI’s David Cooper estimates this figure to be about $8.7 billion.
American Prospect September 5, 2016