Another concerning gap in teacher wages is the overall disparity between educators and similarly educated individuals in different professions. This finding has been described by the Economic Policy Institute as the “teacher pay penalty,” where teachers on average earned 76.5 cents on the dollar in 2021 from what similar college-educated professionals were paid.
K-12 Dive
March 17, 2023
Low salaries and high stress are two of the main contributors to a nationwide teacher shortage that has developed and worsened since around the time of the Great Recession, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Now, some members of Congress are hoping to address the pay problem.
CNBC
March 17, 2023
While wealth may have risen for many Americans, the same can’t be said of their wages. Economists at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, analyzed data from the Social Security Administration and found that on average workers in the bottom 90% of wage earners (those who made less than $112,000 per year) saw no increase in their wages from 2019 to 2021 once historic levels of inflation were taken into account. These workers actually saw a decline in their real earnings of 0.2%.
PBS
March 17, 2023
The following is from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI):
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 16, 2023) — The Michigan state legislature is poised to make history this week by repealing an anti-union “right-to-work” (RTW) statute enacted in 2012. This repeal is an important step toward empowering workers to address historic levels of income inequality and unequal power in our economy, and would mark the first time a state has repealed a RTW law in nearly 60 years.
The Stand
March 17, 2023
New analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, shows the devastating effect Michigan’s 2012 “right to work” law has had on unionization, wages, and the middle class. “An overwhelming body of research shows that states with anti-union laws restricting workers’ collective bargaining rights end up with lower wages, worse benefits, and higher workplace fatality rates,” said Jennifer SHERER, Senior State Policy Coordinator at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), who testified in support of the Restoring Workers’ Rights package before the Senate Labor Committee this morning. “Michigan legislators are right to prioritize restoring workers’ rights as an essential first step toward addressing the decades of wage stagnation and growing income inequality plaguing our economy. Other states should follow Michigan’s lead.”
Michigan AFL-CIO
March 17, 2023
It is exceedingly rare for states to overturn right-to-work laws. The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said if Whitmer signs the bill into law, Michigan will be the first state to repeal a right-to-work law in nearly six decades. (Missouri voters overwhelmingly shot down their own legislature’s right-to-work laws in a 2018 ballot referendum.)
The Washington Post
March 17, 2023
And in a forthcoming report from the Economic Policy Institute, real wage growth, which is adjusted for inflation, increased during the pandemic. “Between 2019 and 2022, hourly wage growth was strongest at the bottom of the wage distribution. The 10th percentile real hourly wage (adjusted for inflation) grew 9.0% over the three-year period. Wage growth was about one-third as fast for middle-wage workers,” it read.
Bucks County Courier Times
March 16, 2023
Another concerning gap in teacher wages is the overall disparity between educators and similarly educated individuals in different professions. This finding has been described by the Economic Policy Institute as the “teacher pay penalty,” where teachers on average earned 76.5 cents on the dollar in 2021 from what similar college-educated professionals were paid.
K-12 Dive
March 16, 2023
The Raise the Wage Act would increase New York’s $15 per hour minimum wage over the next three years and index each year after to match inflation.
Data from the Economic Policy Institute finds if this bill is approved, it would increase wages for about 3 million workers across the state by more than $3,000.
Public News Service
March 10, 2023
Crucially, workers increase their wages by leaving jobs, not by staying at them: A cashier making $13 an hour at a coffee shop gets $16 an hour by taking a position at a pet store, then $19 an hour by becoming a manager at a restaurant. Yet workers tend to look for new positions less often than you might think, given the financial incentives. “There’s a lot of turnover and churn among low-wage workers, but even so, people don’t find changing their jobs that easy,” Elise Gould, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told me. “Maybe you don’t happen to see the help wanted signs. Maybe you don’t think you’ll get hired. Or you don’t have the time to look for another job.”
The Atlantic
March 10, 2023
However, research shows significant gaps in opportunity equity are rife throughout the business world. Reports from the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Center for Women in Academic Medicine and Science and the American Association of University Women, among others, all highlight opportunity equity gaps lurking in employment pay, and advancement related to race and gender, let alone other factors.
Forbes
March 10, 2023
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute, director of research: “If there’s a quibble on the tax side, it’s that it doesn’t ask enough of plenty of American households who could afford to pay more.”
Reuters
March 10, 2023
Research published by the Economic Policy Institute in August 2022 “found that public school teachers nationally make nearly 24% less in weekly earnings than similarly credentialed college graduates in other fields,” explains Rios. “When benefits such as healthcare were taken into account, the total compensation penalty was 14%, the widest gap since 1979.”
Planetizen
March 10, 2023
Economic Policy Institute Economist Monique Morrissey: “Delaying Social Security claiming isn’t a viable option for everyone, but more people might choose this strategy if they better understood the advantages. Clearer language and more frequent mailed statements would help people understand how delaying take-up can be a cost-effective way to increase secure monthly income in retirement.”
Office of Senator Bill Cassidy
March 10, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Black workers in unions see a wage boost of 13.1% compared to comparable non-union workers, and Latino workers see an 18.8% union wage increase. Unions disproportionately help Black and Latino workers realize wage gains they otherwise would potentially not get in non-union jobs. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, it has also been found that 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions – the highest that Gallup has recorded since 1965. Despite growing support for unions, decades of anti-union attacks have made it harder for workers to organize and union membership has fallen to a new low of 10.1 percent in 2022. The PRO Act restores fairness to the economy by strengthening federal laws that protect workers’ rights to join a union and bargain for higher pay, better benefits, and safer workplaces.
Office of Senator Bob Menendez
March 10, 2023
The average cost of living for a family of four in the Hawkeye State in 2022 was $73,867, sixth-lowest among all 50 states, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. The median home price in 2022 was $161,700, according to Rocket Homes.
Money Talks News
March 10, 2023
In addition to his role in MUI, Martinez is on the exective councils of the AFL-CIO, IndustriALL Global Union, the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), the Alliance for Retired Americans, the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Council, America’s Agenda, the Economic Policy Institute, among others.
CBS News
March 10, 2023
The bill comes after a report from the Economic Policy Institute that said 27% of billion-dollar companies in Tennessee pay no state income taxes. A report last year from the group said 60% of the state’s corporations do not pay state income tax.
The Center Square
March 10, 2023
Wage theft in general is a commonplace problem. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that it costs U.S. workers as much as $50 billion per year.
Virginia Mercury
March 10, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, up to $50 billion is stolen from American workers through wage theft every year. For comparison, the FBI estimates the total value of 2019 robberies to be $482 million, meaning employers stole one hundred times more from Americans than did traditional thieves.
Jacobin
March 10, 2023
The field of education is currently in crisis. The gap between teacher pay and that of other college graduates has hit a record high. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), teachers were paid on average 24 percent less than comparable college graduates were paid in 2021, a record high gap since the group began examining such data.
Truthout
March 10, 2023
Robinson did not mention a specific pay-raise amount to reach peer-professional pay. But in its recent Top Education Issues 2023-24 report, the Public School Forum got specific: 24.5%. The Forum drew on the analysis of the Economic Policy Institute, which has tracked national trends in teacher pay for two decades.
Ed NC
March 10, 2023
Studies show that gender price discrimination can cost women in practical, physical, and financial ways. Data from the Economic Policy Institute show that women still make about twenty percent less on the dollar than men. Similar numbers from various studies show that women are likely to spend more for necessities like healthcare, clothing, and housing as compared to similarly situated men.
Kiplinger
March 10, 2023
A 2015 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that public sector employees in “right-to-work” states and states that prohibit collective bargaining in the public sector make less than their private-sector peers. Unions, however, can help fill that gap.
Orlando Weekly
March 10, 2023
These politicians are focused on protecting their wealthy donors, who pay less into Social Security than ever. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently found that as inequality increases, a record share of all earnings are above the $160,200 cap on Social Security contributions.
People's Weekly World
March 10, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) maintains that unions help reduce income inequality by “improving wages and benefits for all workers,” and “reduce racial disparities in wages and raise women’s wages, . . . counteracting occupational segregation, discrimination, and other labor market inequities related to structural racism and sexism. When unions are strong, they set wage standards for entire industries and occupations; they make wages more equal within occupations; and they close pay gaps between white workers and workers of color.”
Insider NJ
March 10, 2023
The platform emerged as a way for educators to earn extra income, just as calls elevated to increase teacher pay amid fears of a teacher shortage. On top of that, teachers’ weekly wages and total compensation have shown signs of decline over the years compared to those of other professionals, the Economic Policy Institute reported in August.
K-12 Dive
March 10, 2023
- Gender inequality: The long-term care workforce has a high percentage of women due partly to their history as primary caregivers, providing informal care to a child, spouse or parent. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a large majority of residential long-term care workers are women, accounting for 80.9%, with the highest concentration among LPNs and RNs at 91.0% and 89.4%, respectively. Men in the long-term care industry make up a larger share of food services and maintenance at 34.3% and 33.7%, respectively.
Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)
March 10, 2023
And an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute finds that in the same year, workers in the bottom 30 percent of the wage distribution were the only ones to experience real wage gains. That is, these workers saw a wage increase even after accounting for inflation.
Washington Center for Equitable Growth
March 10, 2023