According to the Economic Policy Institute, the federal minimum wage in 2021 was worth 34% less than in 1968, when its purchasing power peaked.
WOSU Public Media (Ohio)
July 5, 2024
- Physical challenges. Older workers in physically demanding jobs may face health and safety challenges. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 50 percent of older workers have physically demanding jobs, and 54 percent are exposed to unhealthy or hazardous conditions. These age-related risks can also have business impacts, including lost productivity, increased workers’ compensation claims and absenteeism.
Occupational Health & Safety
July 5, 2024
The Economic Policy Institute detailed how the Southern economic model is failing workers while pushing all economic gains to the wealthy and well-connected.
“In fact, the Southern economic development strategy was never designed to help the vast majority of working Southerners; rather, it reflects efforts to ensure continued access to the cheap labor of Black people following emancipation,” the report states.
The Telegraph
July 5, 2024
While the federal tipped minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 per hour since 1991, many states, cities and other municipalities have instituted much higher standards for tipped and non-tipped employees. In 2024 alone, 22 states have raised their minimum wages, impacting about 10 million workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Bankrate
July 5, 2024
Comparing unemployment levels today to pre-pandemic rates in 2019, Elise Gould, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute, highlighted decreases in joblessness among Black Americans and young adults. Gould wrote in a statement that she sees “a strong (but decidedly not overheated) labor market” rather than a weakening one.
Courthouse News Service
July 5, 2024
Unemployment in June is forecast to hold steady at 4%, which would point to stable job growth. To that end, Elise Gould, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, noted in a report that the jobless rate for young adults is now on par with before the pandemic.
CBS Moneywatch
July 5, 2024
There’s also variation by income level, said Valerie Wilson, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute.
“While wages have grown across the board, we’ve actually had the strongest wage growth among the lowest earners,” she said.
Marketplace
July 5, 2024
“When I think about the American dream, I think about people being able to get ahead, being able to have a house that they can afford, a reasonable vacation in the summer, a secure retirement, being able to send their kids to a decent school,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, at an Ethnic Media Services news briefing June 21.
“We absolutely have the money and the ability to make that happen, and it is up to policymakers to do the kinds of things that make that dream possible, to give workers leverage, to make sure we have the safety net that people need to have security. It’s a policy choice, as to whether we do that or not,” she said.
El Observador
July 1, 2024
The cost of raising a child in the U.S. varies dramatically according to where you live. Using data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), we compared the average cost of child care for a 4-year-old across states.
MarketWatch
July 1, 2024
We talk to Chandra Childers from the Economic Policy Institute about the Southern Economic Model.
Valley Labor Report (Alabama)
July 1, 2024