“There are now 26.8 million workers—15.8% of the workforce—who are either unemployed, otherwise out of work because of the virus, or have seen a drop in hours or pay because of the pandemic,” Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote earlier this week. “Further, we started losing jobs again in December.”
The New Yorker
February 1, 2021
Another report, produced by three economists at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank and a longtime advocate for increasing the minimum wage, found that there would be “significant and direct effects” on the federal budget by increasing payroll tax revenue by $7 billion to $13.9 billion and reducing expenditures on public assistance programs by $13.4 billion to $31 billion.
“This is a sizable chunk of money, no matter how you look at it,” said David Cooper, who wrote the report with Ben Zipperer and Josh Bivens. They determined that increased revenue would prevent many workers and their families from qualifying for assistance programs, reducing expenses.
New York Times
February 1, 2021
About 4.5 million Texans’ wages could benefit from a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour, according to 2019 data from the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute. And while there is mostly consensus that $7.25 an hour is not a livable wage, economists and independent analysts don’t universally agree on whether raising it would be a net positive for the Texas economy.
The Texas Tribune
February 1, 2021
Articles on minimum wage:
Minimum Wage Tracker, from The Economic Policy Institute
NPR Planet Money
February 1, 2021
The nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI) notes that the federal minimum wage has not changed for a decade — the longest it has remained the same since the minimum wage was established in 1938. According to the EPI, the increase would affect some 32 million workers, representing 21% of the U.S. workforce. Not only would the change overwhelmingly benefit essential workers, it would work to close the racial wealth gap; EPI says that 31% of Black workers and 26% of Latino workers would get a pay raise if the higher minimum wage takes effect.
Next City
February 1, 2021
David Cooper, a senior economic analyst at the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, told me the phase-in schedule was “perfectly reasonable” and agreed businesses need time to adjust without negative consequences.
…
David Cooper, the labor-backed EPI economic analyst, acknowledged this issue but agreed with policy that gradually reaches $15 by 2025. “What experience with higher minimum wages and a lot of research has shown, when you phase in increases over time, businesses are able to adjust without there being any of the dire consequences that opponents always claim are going to happen,” said Cooper.
He was hopeful about future legislation, adding, “There’s nothing that says we have to stop at $15 once we get there.”
Jacobin
February 1, 2021
Pessimism about retirement abounds for young people, who were more likely than older age cohorts to lose their jobs when the pandemic hit, an October paper from the Economic Policy Institute said.
The Balance
February 1, 2021
The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 in five steps over the next four years. Beginning in 2026, the federal minimum wage would be indexed to median wage growth. According to an independent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, the Raise the Wage Act would increase wages for nearly 32 million Americans, including roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers.
Fall River Reporter
February 1, 2021
The minimum wage legislation that Democrats including Sanders and Brown introduced last week would gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025. Starting in 2026, it would index the federal minimum wage to median wage growth. Supporters of the measure say an independent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute indicates their proposal would increase wages for nearly 32 million Americans, including roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
February 1, 2021