The Economic Policy Institute, the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank created to support the interests of low- and moderate-income workers, recently raised a warning flag over the growing trend among state legislatures to weaken child labor laws.
“In states across the country, lawmakers are engaged in a coordinated, corporate-backed campaign to weaken child labor protections,” the institute reported. “One type of protection — minimum ages to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants — has been eroded in seven states since 2021. While lowering the age to serve alcohol may sound benign, it is not. It puts young people at risk of sexual harassment, underage drinking, and other harms.”
Capitol Times
August 2, 2023
“Child labor laws are under attack in states across the country, just as violations of these standards are rising,” Jennifer Sherer, the senior state policy coordinator for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning labor think tank, said in a recent statement. “The trend reflects a coordinated multi-industry push to expand employer access to low-wage labor, with the end goal of rewriting federal child labor laws and other worker protections for the whole country.”
The American Independent
July 31, 2023
A report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) last year showed the average weekly wages of teachers went up only $29 from 1996 to 2021.
The Hill
July 31, 2023
Twenty-four states have increased their minimum wages by legislation or ballot measure since 2016, according to the Economic Policy Institute. These include red states like Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. The most recent statewide increases are going into effect this summer in Connecticut, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington D.C.
24/7 Wall St.
July 31, 2023
Daniel Costa, who is the author of the report and the director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the EPI, noted that “an employer may select an entire workforce composed of a single nationality, gender, or age group” under the program.
Further, “employers and recruiters can also weed out workers who might dare to speak out against unlawful employment practices, assert their legal rights, or organize for better working conditions by joining or forming a union … by firing them and effectively forcing them to leave the country, or by threatening to blacklist them … ,” Costa said.
LA Progressive
July 31, 2023
At least nine states have introduced laws that would allow children as young as 14 to serve alcohol, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
These changes come amid a tight labor market across much of the U.S., with some employers still struggling to fill positions. But children working in factories or serving alcohol encounter safety risks, with the EPI noting that the latter puts kids at risk of sexual harassment and increases the chances that those child workers will consume alcohol.
CBS Moneywatch
July 31, 2023
And the Economic Policy Institute says over 120,000 workers were involved in major work stoppages last year.
Newsy
July 31, 2023
“The lack of compliance with the limited [disclosures] that the law does require is just so shameful,” said Celine McNicholas, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
…
McNicholas, of the Economic Policy Institute, noted that large companies like Amazon have gotten attention for their big anti-union expenditures, but many smaller firms still spend “$200,000 as a matter of course.” She believes most people aren’t aware of the resources corporations pump into these campaigns.
“If there were greater transparency,” she said, “there would be greater outrage at how employers respond to union organizing.”
Huffpost
July 31, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor economic think tank, estimated it would raise wages for close to 28 million workers, or nearly one-fifth of the American workforce, by about $3,100 a year. Focusing in on the restaurant industry, the Economic Policy Institute estimated the bill would raise wages for nearly 3.6 million restaurant workers directly, and drive up pay for some 2.3 million more, or what it estimated as 58% of the restaurant workforce.
Restaurant Dive
July 31, 2023
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“I am optimistic that we are getting a soft landing — that we are already seeing inflation moderate dramatically and we will continue to see inflation moderate and not see a big rise in unemployment,” said Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist at the Department of Labor who is now director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. “If we do have a recession, it will have been a policy failure. It will have been because the Fed raised rates too much,” she added.
Financial Times
July 31, 2023