Media clips

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• Billionaires Are Using an Abusive Farmworker Scam to Rake in More Profits

  While advocates say the program is crucial for small farmers facing staffing troubles, critics say it has enabled a powerful industry to suppress wages. Workers participating in the H-2A visa program are paid 55 percent of the average wage received by other nonsupervisory workers in the United States, according to an analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute.

  Jacobin September 15, 2023
• Minnesota household income continues to decline, putting more families in need

  Paywall.

  Minneapolis Star Tribune September 15, 2023
• Biden Labor Department Inspected Just 879 Farms Last Year — Factory Farms Included

  A new report from the Economic Policy Institute reveals that the federal government is failing to adequately protect one of society’s most vulnerable groups — farm workers. Despite promising to be “the most pro-worker and pro-union President in American history” the Biden Administration lags behind his predecessor, as farm labor investigations hit an all-time low.

  Sentient Media September 15, 2023
• Autoworkers Prepare to Strike for a Place in the EV Future

  A 2021 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor think tank, estimated that without policy intervention, meeting that goal would cost the US auto industry 75,000 jobs, since the majority of EV powertrain components are produced and assembled elsewhere.

  WIRED September 15, 2023
• College coaches’ million-dollar buyouts: Revealing the unparalleled power shift in sports’ lucrative realm

  Roughly half of all U.S. employers utilize non-competes in their contracts, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute in 2019.

  Sacramento Bee September 15, 2023
• Sky-high CEO pay is in focus as workers everywhere are demanding higher wages

  This kind of pay disparity was not always a given. In 1965, CEOs typically earned 20 times the typical worker’s pay in their industries, according to a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

  But executive compensation soared, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, when CEOs were lionized and a large chunk of their pay was linked to their company’s stock performance. CEO pay skyrocketed along with the stock market, with the S&P 500 increasing by more than 1,000% since 1990. In the same period, workers’ wages, adjusted for inflation, have barely budged.

  In 2021, CEOs earned 399 times the typical worker, the EPI report found.

  “Obviously, CEOs should be the highest-paid person in an enterprise,” said EPI Chief Economist Josh Bivens, who co-wrote the report. “But the question is, how much higher than everyone else?”

  NPR September 15, 2023
• Child Labor Laws Are Being Repealed Across The Country. Why Now?

  Nina Mast, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, has been following the push to break down child labor protections.

  “This is part of a much larger agenda of privatization and deregulation of our public institutions,” says Mast. “When you have youth potentially foregoing higher education, future earnings, and the ability to earn higher wages in our economy, their wages are depressed over their entire lifetime. That’s bad for the macro economy. It’s bad for adults… When youth are taking these jobs at low wages, it really pushes adults out of the labor market. Why would an employer hire an adult at $15 an hour, if they can pay a young person $10?”

  Nina Mast went long with Fatherly on child labor, the laws that are sweeping the nation, why it’s a myth that paid work is good for kids, and why the child labor crisis isn’t new — it’s just been simmering under the surface.

  Fatherly September 15, 2023
• How leaders can address the CEO-to-worker pay gap

  Paywall.

  Fast Company September 15, 2023
• How the Army’s pay structure inspired this CEO to introduce pay transparency

  As executive compensation has ballooned in recent years, CEOs are being paid nearly 400 times as much as the average worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Fast Company September 15, 2023
• What Is Hispanic Heritage Month, and How Is It Celebrated?

  Others also question the authenticity of some companies and organizations who “celebrate” this month for optics, but don’t focus on the issues facing the community—like the fact that Latina women make less than anyone else at 55¢ to the dollar a White man makes, or that Hispanic men made 14.9 percent less in hourly wages than comparable White men, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Reader's Digest September 15, 2023
• The Enemies of America’s Children

  Record inflation was a major reason but perhaps not the largest. When Congress allowed the expanded Child Tax Credit to expire, that was “particularly damaging to child poverty,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  New York Magazine September 15, 2023
• Child poverty in the U.S. more than doubled as pandemic help expired

  Economists from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released a statement that pointed out the effects of U.S. policy choices: “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”

  MarketWatch September 15, 2023
• Black Texas High School Student Suspended For Locs Despite New Law Banning Hair Discrimination

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 24 states have passed versions of the CROWN Act. California was the first state to enact the legislation in 2019. Legislation for a national CROWN Act has not been successful. 

  Essence September 15, 2023
• 5 million kids fell into poverty last year after Congress cut off Biden’s monthly checks to parents

  “The sharp reductions in child poverty in 2020 and 2021 that were engineered even in the face of a pandemic-damaged economy show the importance of policy decisions,” a statement from Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould and Ismael Cid-Martinez said. “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”

  Business Insider September 15, 2023
• Companies withhold billions in wages annually through unpaid tips and overtime. Some lawmakers now demand stricter penalties.

  From 2017 to 2020, workers clawed back over $3 billion in stolen wages, according to the left-leaning nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute. That’s “just a small portion of wages stolen from workers across the country,” according to EPI, with the real cost of wage theft potentially being closer to $50 billion annually.

  Business Insider September 15, 2023
• US child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022 thanks to Manchin and GOP

  Elise Gould and Ismael Cid-Martinez of the Economic Policy Institute echoed Parrott’s assessment, saying in a statement that “if policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”

  “More ambitious—but economically sustainable—expansions of our generally stingy welfare state could essentially eliminate poverty completely,” they added. “We know this vision isn’t politically realistic in the short run, but the policy lessons of 2020 and 2021 should not be lost with today’s report.”

  Raw Story September 15, 2023
• Child poverty in the US more than doubled after pandemic aid expired

  Though inflation shock has subsided for many families as the Biden administration points to a return to a strong labor market, “there are families that will have trouble finding enough work (and enough well-paid work) to provide economic security,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  “This is particularly true for families with children,” the group wrote in response to Tuesday’s report. “The sharp reductions in child poverty in 2020 and 2021 that were engineered even in the face of a pandemic-damaged economy show the importance of policy decisions. … More ambitious – but economically sustainable – expansions of our generally stingy welfare state could essentially eliminate poverty completely.”

  That’s not a “politically realistic” idea, the group acknowledges, but the lessons of 2020 and 2021 “should not be lost” with the Census Bureau’s report.

  The Independent September 15, 2023
• Child Poverty Doubled In 2022 After Key Pandemic Aid Expired

  “CHILD POVERTY IS A POLICY CHOICE,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is a disaster that didn’t have to happen.”

  Investopedia September 15, 2023
• DOL Issues Proposed Rule to Bolster Farm Worker Protections

  Foreign guest workers who use the H-2A and H-2B temporary visa programs need better labor protections, according to experts who testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on July 20, 2022.

  Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said that the U.S. government is failing to meet basic labor standards and provide basic rights to workers in the growing H-2A and H-2B visa programs.

  SHRM September 15, 2023
• Short-term rentals cause a long-term mess

  But, as the hotel industry and the Economic Policy Institute have pointed out, the agreements conceal specifics on how many and where vacation rentals are actually operating. 

  The Texas Observer September 15, 2023
• Billionaires Cash In On Abusive Farm Worker Scam

  Workers participating in the H-2A visa program are paid 55 percent of the average wage received by other nonsupervisory workers in the United States, according to an analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Lever News September 15, 2023
• Special Report: Understanding out-of-control CEO pay—and why it’s a problem

  The Economic Policy Institute also advocates for tax penalties against companies with extreme ratios, and policies that increase shareholders’ abilities to control excess CEO pay.

  Fast Company September 15, 2023
• Texas student suspended over his loc hairstyle days after state’s Crown Act takes effect

  Two dozen states have enacted versions of a CROWN Act, according to the Economic Policy Institute. California was the first to pass the measure in 2019. Legislation for a national CROWN Act has been unsuccessful.

  CNN September 15, 2023
• Only one in three public school teachers think their base salary is adequate

  A study from the Economic Policy Institute found that public school teachers earn about 24% less than others with the same levels of experience and education. 

  Marketplace September 15, 2023
• Unions Put More Money in the Pockets of Black Folks

  “The legacy of not having access to wealth-building opportunities that Black families have faced over decades, those things are labor market independent,” says Kyle K. Moore, economist for the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity, and the economy. 

  “But there is a component of the racial wealth gap that comes from the labor market, and being in a union allows [people] to mitigate that.”

  Word in Black September 15, 2023
• 3 Minnesota construction companies accused of dangerous labor practices

  They also cite a 2021 study from the Economic Policy Institute that showed nearly a quarter of Minnesota construction workers are misclassified as independent contractors and are paid off the books, making 36% less in wages and benefits than regularly employed workers.

  WCCO News Minnesota September 15, 2023
• (Podcast) On strike! Hope and challenges for the labor movement

  All of the strike activity we’re seeing right now is a hopeful sign for those who want to see an economy that works for everyone. In this episode, we speak with Margaret Poydock and Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute, co-authors of the recent report What to know about this summer’s strike activity. We discuss what’s driving the recent wave of strikes, the challenges workers encounter when seeking to strike, and the policy changes that would strengthen workers’ ability to act collectively.

  Oregon Center for Public Policy September 15, 2023
• Big Real Estate Says Regulations Caused Housing Crisis, But They Wrote the Rules

  As economists Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens wrote for the Economic Policy Institute, “Between 1979 and 2017, the compensation of median workers trailed economywide (net) productivity growth by roughly 43%, leading to rising inequality.” Workers were producing far more, but the benefit was instead being concentrated in a tiny segment of the population, what Mishel and Bivens identified as “workers at the top (mostly highly credentialed professionals and corporate managers) and owners of capital.” The rich were getting richer, and the cost of being poor was growing.

  Truthout September 15, 2023
• How should Airbnbs in Richmond be run? There’s lots of room for debate

  Additionally, the Economic Policy Institute reported in 2019 that the economic costs associated with Airbnb likely outweigh the benefits as housing and rental prices increase causing price gauging and communities have to relocate because they can no longer afford to live in their respective neighborhoods.

  Richmond Times-Dispatch September 15, 2023
• As trust erodes, labor actions gain momentum

  A Statista Research Department report estimated that in 2021, CEOs received nearly 400 times the average annual salary of their production and nonsupervisory workers. The Economic Policy Institute offered a different take: Between 1978 and 2019, CEO compensation grew 940 percent, while typical worker compensation rose just 12 percent.

  San Diego Union Tribune September 15, 2023