It was a freezing afternoon in February 2011 as I marched up State Street to the Wisconsin State Capitol. I was between undergraduate classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when I caught word that a group of graduate-student workers were delivering valentines to Republican Governor Scott Walker and holding a rally at the Capitol urging him not to abolish their collective-bargaining rights. I had some time to kill and was curious about the action, so I marched along with them.
Teen Vogue
March 11, 2021
Half of Americans ages 56 to 61 had less than $21,000 in retirement savings in 2016, the most recent year for which the figure is available, the Economic Policy Institute reports.
AARP
March 11, 2021
More than 25 million workers have been hurt by the pandemic, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, including 10 million who are currently unemployed, an estimated five million who have left the workforce and are not being counted in unemployment numbers, and 6.6 million who have seen their hours and pay cut because of COVID-19.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
March 11, 2021
At face value, “$300 instead of $400 is worse,” says Heidi Shierholz, the director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. A $300 weekly boost on top of state UI replaces 74% of the average worker’s lost income, according to a CNBC analysis, while a $400 weekly supplement bumps it up to 85% wage recovery. The CARES Act’s $600 weekly enhancement aimed to provide 100% wage replacement for the average worker.
CNBC
March 11, 2021
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Black workers went the other way: jumping to 9.9% from 9.2% before. The current rate is “just shy of the high-water mark in the Great Recession,” wrote Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
CNN
March 11, 2021
The Economic Policy Institute’s “Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift the pay of 32 million workers” research paper analyzed pay by state, unemployment rate, job type and effect on poverty levels. The foundation of the research was based on the “Raise the Wage Act of 2021,” which had five increases in the minimum wage between now and 2025 when it would reach the $15 threshold.
24/7 Wall St.
March 11, 2021
“I find it hard to understand how the CBO concluded that raising the minimum wage would increase the deficit by $54 billion,” Sanders said. “… several major studies done by the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics and the Economic Policy Institute both found that raising the minimum wage would amount to a significant reduction in the deficit.”
The Daily Iowan
March 11, 2021
According to 2017 data from the Economic Policy Institute, white families’ average wealth was seven times higher than that of Black families. Furthermore, even when an internship does come with compensation, race discrepancy is reportedly rampant across intern pay scales; the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reports that white students are more likely to be paid than unpaid, while Black students are more likely to be unpaid, Latinx candidates are more likely to never have an internship than an unpaid or paid internship, and multi-racial Americans are more likely to be unpaid or never intern at all. With access to internships being inequitable—and compensation being unequal once access is granted—many start out behind in terms of salary level, which is hard to make up for and may be part of what leads to so few BIPOC employees being in leadership roles.
Well and Good
March 11, 2021
It was a freezing afternoon in February 2011 as I marched up State Street to the Wisconsin State Capitol. I was between undergraduate classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when I caught word that a group of graduate-student workers were delivering valentines to Republican Governor Scott Walker and holding a rally at the Capitol urging him not to abolish their collective-bargaining rights. I had some time to kill and was curious about the action, so I marched along with them.
Teen Vogue
March 11, 2021
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Black workers went the other way: jumping to 9.9% from 9.2% before. The current rate is “just shy of the high-water mark in the Great Recession,” wrote Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
CNN
March 11, 2021