Media clips

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• 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 14, 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• Child Labor Laws Are Being Repealed Across The Country.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 14, 2023
• How leaders can address the CEO-to-worker pay gap

  Paywall.

  Fast Company September 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 2023