“It’s a huge problem,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “Inadequate pay has been a huge reason teachers and support staff in state and local government have quit. In order to attract and retain workers they need, they will have to not just hire workers but raise pay.”
The Washington Post
August 5, 2022
It’s also especially crucial for Black workers and those of several other marginalized demographics. According to the Economic Policy Institute, on average, Black workers are paid 73 cents on the white dollar. Black women make even less—64 cents for every white male dollar. Even with advanced degrees, Black people still see a significant wage gap compared to their white counterparts.
Thegrio.com
August 4, 2022
Like workers of all education levels, college graduates experience considerable wage inequality depending on their race. White workers’ salaries, on average, outpace those of both Black and Hispanic workers at each level of educational attainment beyond high school. Black master’s degree holders earn just $0.28 more per hour than white bachelor’s degree holders, for instance, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
Forbes
August 4, 2022
Low pay and poor working conditions are the norm for workers in long-term care, according to a report published Wednesday by the think tank Economic Policy Institute.
Researchers gathered data on employment levels, demographics, compensation, poverty rates and unionization of workers. The field is dominated by women, especially Black and immigrant women, the authors said.
McKnight’s Senior Living
August 4, 2022
The Economic Policy Institute, an independent nonprofit think tank that studies economic trends, looked at the pay of CEOs at the 350 largest companies in the U.S. each year by revenue. One finding: Compensation was $1.7 million in 1978 and rose 1,322% to $24.2 million by 2020.
CEO pay grew 60% faster than the overall stock market during that time. Typical worker income in the industries those 350 CEOs represented grew 18%, indicative of growing income inequality.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
August 4, 2022
But the reduction in supply was met with increased demand as Americans started purchasing durable goods to replace the services they used prior to the pandemic, said Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute. “The pandemic put distortions on both the demand and supply side of the US economy,” Bivens said.
CNET
August 4, 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. The H-2A visa program—the main focus of the hearing—is for seasonal jobs in agriculture, while the H-2B program is for seasonal jobs outside of agriculture.
“Although migrants coming to the United States through temporary work visa programs are legally authorized to work, they are among the most exploited laborers in the U.S. workforce because employer control of their visa status leaves many powerless to defend and uphold their rights,” Costa said. The flaws in the H-2 visa programs are systemic and structural, he said, listing abuses like charging workers exorbitant recruitment fees, keeping them in debt bondage, underpaying workers and allowing abuses to occur, as seen in the Operation Blooming Onion case.
SHRM
August 4, 2022
As Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute has pointed out, corporations are not just passing on cost increases to customers; they’re padding their profits as well. Profits account for over half of the recent increase in prices, well above the historical average of 11 percent.
Dissent Magazine
August 4, 2022
And because that number has stayed stuck while prices keep rising, the Economic Policy Institute warned that the federal minimum wage now has less actual spending power than at any point in the last 66 years.
Business Insider
August 4, 2022