Media clips

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• Europe gets more vacations than the U.S. Here are some reasons why.

  GONZALEZ: Adewale is a labor economics researcher at the Economic Policy Institute. But actually seeing the European attitude toward work in person felt different. And it made Adewale think of this report he worked on a few years back.

  MAYE: The name of the report is No-Vacation Nation.

  GONZALEZ: No-Vacation Nation.

  MAYE: Very on the nose.

  GONZALEZ: In this report, Adewale looked at the 21 richest countries in the world, and he listed how many paid vacation days they all get not because of the kindness of their employers, but how many paid vacation days every single person in these countries have to – have to, have to, have to – get by law. And he found that Japan, for example, gets 10 paid vacation days for everyone on top of 15 paid holidays; Australia, 20 paid vacation days, plus eight paid holidays; Spain 25 vacation days, paid, plus 14 paid holidays. We are talking 39 days off, paid, for everyone – hairdressers, mechanics, doctors, bakers, daycare workers, train operators. Every worker in these countries is guaranteed paid vacation. Actually, every worker in all of the richest countries in the world has to get paid vacation except for workers in one rich country, the U.S.

  NPR Planet Money August 21, 2023
• Union fights grow US workers’ slice of profit pie

  Yet by one measure, employees aren’t doing as well as they did before the pandemic. Workers’ share of corporate earnings reached 75% in the first quarter, compared to 76% in the last three months of 2019, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Closing that one-point difference today requires $120 billion in higher wages.

  Reuters August 21, 2023
• Districts explore building homes for teachers amid affordability crunch
  • According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers have for decades experienced a “wage penalty” — meaning they consistently make less than their non-teacher, college-educated counterparts.
  Axios August 17, 2023
• Here’s why Americans can’t stop living paycheck to paycheck

  What’s more, since 1979, wages for the bottom 90% of earners had grown just 15%, compared with 138% for the top 1%, according to a 2015 Economic Policy Institute report. But there’s now a renewed focus on wage-earner anxiety amid higher inflation and rising interest rates.

  CNBC August 17, 2023
• Are We Failing Our Teachers?

  According to a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute, in some states, teachers make almost 33% less than others with equivalent degrees.

  Reader's Digest August 17, 2023
• Black Unemployment Is Low. What Happens When It’s Not?

  “When there’s a downturn, Black workers, in particular, get hit the hardest, the earliest, and they take the longest to recover,” Kyle K. Moore, economist for the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity, and the economy, says.

  Word in Black August 17, 2023
• Legislative lowdown: PWFA proposed rule, Maine paid leave, child labor laws

  The Arkansas law is part of a wave of new legislation that seeks to loosen regulations for employing children. Some 14 states have introduced similar laws, according to tracking by the Economic Policy Institute.

  HR Brew August 17, 2023
• Are ESG-Supportive Institutions Addressing Income Inequality, The ‘Other’ Big Risk?

  While there are various reasons why income and wealth inequality have exploded in the United States, the stratospheric pay awarded to members of the executive suite of public companies is believed to be one key factor. For example, see a report detailing CEO pay from the Economic Policy Institute dated 10/4/22, which provides extensive supporting data and notes: “[T]he escalation of CEO compensation, and of executive compensation more generally, has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, generating widespread inequality.”

  Forbes August 17, 2023
• Toward a More Perfect Pot Union

  In September 2021, Washington D.C.-based nonprofit think tank the Economic Policy Institute issued a report entitled “Ensuring the high road in cannabis” that argued for strong unionization within the rapidly expanding legal-use industry. 

  NUG Magazine August 17, 2023
• New law weakening child labor protections in Arkansas takes effect

  According to the progressive Economic Policy Institute, protective child labor laws are being eliminated at a precarious time just as violations are rising. The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported that between October 2022 and July of this year, nearly 4,500 children were employed in violation of federal child labor laws and assessed more than $6.6 million in penalties against their employers.

  KUAF August 17, 2023