The wealthiest Americans are far more likely to hold stocks than those with lower incomes. Josh Bivens, chief economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said stock market gains are “really about how the wealthiest are faring” and are “mostly irrelevant to most peoples’ real economic circumstances.”
Politico
February 16, 2024
The budgets estimate community-specific costs for 10 family types (one or two adults with zero to four children) in all counties and metro areas in the United States. Officials say, compared with the federal poverty line and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, EPI’s family budgets provide a more accurate and complete measure of economic security in America.
WJON (Minnesota)
February 16, 2024
A single person in the Twin Cities metro area needs to earn $47,442 a year — about $22 an hour — to afford the basics: food, housing, health care, transportation and a cell phone. For a family of four, the parents need to earn at least $119,229 a year — or about $28 an hour each.
That’s according to the Economic Policy Institute’s latest Family Budget Calculator, which estimates how much it costs to make ends meet across America.
Minnesota Reformer
February 16, 2024
Conversely, they make up just 10.5% of computer and mathematical science occupations, according to the Economic Policy Institute, where the median annual salary is $100,440, and 6.9% of legal occupations, where the median annual salary is $95,170.
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And even if public transportation gets you to that job, you “may be limited in the number of hours of work because [you] can’t use transportation at any time,” says Valerie Wilson, director of the EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
CNBC
February 16, 2024
Unfortunately, Americans’ access to paid leave right now depends largely on where they work and whether they’re fortunate enough to belong to a union. And many still have no paid sick leave at all, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune
February 16, 2024
There are more Utah workers represented by unions than members, which the Economic Policy Institute argues is a more relevant statistic. About 8% of Utah workers age 16 and older were represented by unions in 2023, even though they weren’t voting members.
The Salt Lake Tribune
February 16, 2024
In 1980, the federal minimum hourly wage was $3.10. Today, it sits at $7.25. Adjusting for inflation, to reach the same purchasing power as over 40 years ago, the minimum wage would have to be around $12.22 an hour.
Meanwhile, productivity from 1979-2022 grew at more than four times the rate of compensation (64.7% vs 14.8%) for typical workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
If hard work doesn’t necessarily pay off, and it’s a struggle to afford basic goods, young people may not feel the extra effort is worth it.
MoneyWise
February 16, 2024
Before disco, the top 10% shared 30% of the nation’s income, while the remaining 90% lived off the rest. Today, the bottom 90% is getting by with less than 60% of the income. The top 1% took in 14.6% in 2021, which is twice their 7.3% share in 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
LA Times
February 16, 2024
Employment dipped by 15%, or nearly 6 million workers, for people 55 and over in the early months of 2020, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
USA Today
February 16, 2024
To illustrate regional differences — and to help people assess whether their own budgets are in line with their neighbors’ — the Economic Policy Institute has unveiled a family budget calculator with 2023 data for all counties and metro areas across the nation. The calculator estimates seven basic expense categories — housing, food, transportation, child care, health care, taxes and other basic necessities — for 10 family types (one or two adults with zero to four children).
Arizona Republic
February 16, 2024