David Cooper, the director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, told BI there’s been a “real sea change” in people’s understanding of the impact of hikes. Both he and Lathrop have observed a move away from the belief that higher minimum wages would lead to fewer jobs and toward research showing that pay hikes mean higher pay with minimal job loss.
“Raising the minimum wage almost always has bipartisan support except among elected Republican officials. So there is a disconnect between what elected Republicans want to do around minimum wage policy and what their voters overwhelming — at least by and large — tend to want them to do,” Cooper said.
Business Insider
November 12, 2024
To understand why Americans took out their frustrations around inflation at the polls you first need to understand that the bottom 60% of workers saw a real, or inflation adjusted, wage increase of only around $3 per hour between 1973 and 2023. (Hourly wage data are from the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group. Workers include all wage and salary workers 16 or older, which excludes the self-employed, and wages are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumer Research Series. The data was prepared by the Economic Policy Institute.)
Bloomberg
November 12, 2024
A 2023 study by the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank focused on financial inequalities, found the racial wage gap for Black workers has stayed about the same since the 1970s. The average Black worker in the U.S. is paid 23% less than a white worker, compared to 22% less in 1973. The study also notes the average white family has eight times as much wealth as a Black family.
USA Today
November 12, 2024
For Alaska, I saw one estimate from the Economic Policy Institute that says the increase will affect about 10% of workers, and more than half that group is women. In Missouri, it’s about 12%, and one estimate from a group called the Missouri Budget Project says workers will get an extra thousand bucks every year.
NPR Planet Money
November 12, 2024
The prospect of the Trump administration veering from the standard playbook on NLRB members seems possible given the ongoing constitutional challenges to their removal protections, said Celine McNicholas, general counsel and director of policy and governmental affairs at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg Law
November 12, 2024
Growing dissatisfaction and anger over the gulf between executive pay at large US corporations and workers has been driving the labor unrest seen over the past few years for contracts like this one, said Cornell. Since 1978, CEO compensation has soared over 1,000% compared to 24% for typical workers, according to a September report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg Law
November 12, 2024
As Larry Mishel, former president of Economic Policy institute, who has written extensively on politics and the working class, said, there is a glaring lack of connection between material reality, even material gains, and recognition or appreciation for such gains. “Partisanship shapes perceptions. There is simply a disconnect between policy, outcomes, and political rewards.”
MSNBC.com
November 12, 2024
Getting Americans to save more for retirement is a concern as the population ages, especially as the number of companies offering pensions dwindles. The typical household headed by people ages 55 to 64 has just $10,000 saved in a retirement account, according to an analysis of federal data by the Economic Policy Institute and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
New York Times
November 12, 2024
Alaskans also voted on raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, up from $11.73, and the measure is on track to pass. It would increase earnings for nearly 10 percent of the workforce, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In California, voters were asked to raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour, but the results are still too close to call.
VOX
November 12, 2024
The worker-centered Economic Policy Institute said in 2023 that preemption can interfere with local governments’ ability to set job quality standards.
“Blocking these local policies results in wage suppression for all workers and contributes to maintaining racial and gender pay gaps,” the group said during committee testimony.
Bridge Michigan
November 12, 2024