Media clips
-
In the New York Times, Steven Greenhouse examined the disconnect between workers’ wages, which have stagnated, and the stock market and executive pay, which have both soared. “The real reason businesses aren’t hiring is they’re not seeing consumer demand for their goods and services increase,” EPI Economist Heidi Shierholz told the Times. “We need greater demand for goods and services. It is clearly true that if people receive higher incomes, that will help the economy.”
The New York Times August 2, 2013 -
Recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute shows that after four years of recovery, we’re only one-fifth of the way out of the hole left by the recession. At this rate, we won’t close the jobs gap until 2020. That’s too long for out-of-work Americans who continue to suffer.
The Washington Post July 26, 2013 -
“There’s been a lot of misconceptions about the minimum wage,” said David Cooper, an analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington. “A good portion of those affected are teenagers, but it also affects a good portion of older people with families.”
The federal numbers report only those who make the exact amount of the minimum wage, Cooper said, but there are millions of other people who make just slightly more than that wage, and many of those are at least 20 years old and/or parents of young children.
A family budget calculator created by the EPI estimates that a single parent trying to raise one child in Palm Beach County needs to make $51,593 a year in order to achieve a “secure yet modest living standard.”
Las Vegas Sun July 26, 2013 -
A recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute falls in line with this view. A family of two parents and two children would need to earn $65,952 to live comfortable but thrifty lives in Pittsburgh. That total includes enough to pay the average rent here as well as the average cost of health care and childcare. It does not include such home staples as cable or Internet access because those are not considered necessary expenses. Still, two parents working full time for the minimum wage would make about half that salary.
“It’s still a relatively austere budget,” said Hilary Wething, a research assistant at the Economic Policy Institute and a co-author of the report. “There’s no emergency fund, there’s no retirement savings, there’s no college savings. There’s no going on vacation.”
Pittsburgh Post Gazette July 26, 2013 -
According to the Economic Policy Institute, it requires an annual income of $63,600 for a family of two adults and two children.
Health care takes up the biggest chunk – $1,380 each month to pay for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs – while child care is the second-biggest expense at $961 each month.
Other big monthly expenses for Houston-area residents include $945 for housing, $754 for food and $577 for transportation costs, according to the report based on a variety of government and private data.
“It’s not going out to restaurants,” said Natalie Sabadish, a research assistant at the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of the report released earlier this month. Or money for vacations, savings accounts, Internet, cable and cellphones.
“It’s being able to make ends meet month to month,” Sabadish said.
Houston Chronicle July 26, 2013 -
More than 88 percent of those who would benefit from a higher minimum are over the age of 20.
The New York Times July 26, 2013 -
Writing for the Center for American Progress, Sam Fulwood drew upon research by Algernon Austin to make the point that the goals of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom are still largely unmet. “An accurate understanding of what those brave marchers demanded a half-century ago can only lead to the conclusion that their work remains incomplete and should inspire every American to continue their journey to move this nation closer to fairness and equality for all,” wrote Fulwood.
Center for American Progress July 24, 2013 -
Kenneth Thomas writes in U.S. News and World Report about a new paper from EPI Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research Robert Scott showing that the U.S.–Korea Free Trade Agreement has increased trade deficits and cost American jobs. “Increasing trade deficits mean less domestic labor demand and result in job loss,” Thomas wrote. “But we keep making new ‘trade’ agreements (which usually go beyond trade to include major investment provisions plus intellectual property rules) despite the evident pressures on the middle class that have been building up for decades.”
US News and World Report July 24, 2013 -
The New York Times talked to EPI Economist Heidi Shierholz about the job prospects for recent college graduates. “The class of 2009 just got royally screwed, because their first four years in the labor market were this horrible thing,” said Shierholz, who has done extensive research into the employment prospects of recent college grads
The New York Times July 24, 2013 -
The Guardian spoke with EPI Research and Policy Director Josh Bivens about President Obama’s recent economic speech. “The No 1 problem facing the US economy right now is still far too high unemployment,” Bivens said. “We are not even close to fully recovered from the Great Recession. If you look at the share of working age adults with a job, we’ve only recovered about a fifth of what we lost during the recession.”
The Guardian July 24, 2013