Under the proposed rules, 27% of full-time salaried workers would get overtime, the Department of Labor estimated.3 As of 2019, 15% were eligible, down from 60% in 1975, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.
Investopedia
September 1, 2023
Wage growth has been particularly strong for low-paid workers since March 2020, when the pandemic shut down the U.S. economy, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. Because of government stimulus such as expanded unemployment benefits, low-paid workers had a stronger safety net as they looked for better-paying jobs. As a result, many employers have boosted pay during the past three years.
Despite those gains, millions of workers are still struggling to pay the bills, with almost 4 in 10 Americans recently telling the U.S. Census that they were having difficulties meeting their household expenses. Although though pay increase are staying ahead of inflation this year, low- and middle-wage workers have generally not kept up with the cost of living over the prior four decades, according to EPI research.
“Low and middle-wage workers continue to struggle to make ends meet, even thought there have been some gains that we’d love to see continue for lower wage workers,” Gould told CBS MoneyWatch. “Many people have seen very little increase in the last five decades.”
CBS Moneywatch
September 1, 2023
While the drop in job openings was significant, the reduction is due to little turnover, said Elise Gould, a senior economist at The Economic Policy Institute. The elevated amount of job openings observed in the past few years was not necessarily signaling an overheated job market, but rather a higher rate of “churn” as people quit and found new jobs at a faster rate, she said.
However, as that churn declines, so will the number of job openings.
“It’s not because things are necessarily contracting, it’s just normalizing somewhat,” she said of the labor market.
CNBC
September 1, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the gender pay gap amounts to over $530,000 in lifetime lost wages for an average female worker. But, that number gets far more dramatic when you consider the average female with a college education. She loses nearly $800,000 of income across her career.
Motley Fool
September 1, 2023
Auto employment in the Great Lakes region, while still nearly double that of southern states, has slid 34% in the last two decades to 382,000 workers as of 2021, according to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics done by the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank. The decline has been driven in part by Detroit car companies downsizing and by plant closures during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute, in a testimony by Elise Gould in support of the 2023 Fair Wage Act that raises the minimum wage in Maryland to $15 per hour, found that raising the minimum wage advances gender and racial justice.
The Daily Record
September 1, 2023
Paying people a living wage may also boost the economy: The Economic Policy Institute estimated that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 could save taxpayers between $13.4 billion and $31.0 billion annually on major public assistance expenditures, all while increasing tax revenues since people are making more money.
Forbes
September 1, 2023
While Lyft and Uber report drivers earned approximately $35 per utilized hour in the second half of 2022, including tips and bonuses, an Economic Policy Institute report in 2022 revealed about 14% of all gig workers using digital platforms earned less than the $7.25 federal minimum wage on an hourly basis.
Beaver County Times
September 1, 2023
Yet, while the workforce has grown over the last four decades, Wage and Hour’s team of investigators has shrunk from a high of 1,232 in 1978 to 810 at the end of last year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
American Prospect
September 1, 2023
Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, said current TPS holders have high labor force participation rates and contribute billions to the U.S. economy every year.
“TPS raises wages through the provision of work authorization for people who don’t have it. … Higher wages also mean more spending back in the economy, which creates more jobs,” he said.
Voice of America
September 1, 2023