Media clips

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• The retirement plans of many Americans have been delayed by the pandemic, survey says

  According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, most retirement funds in the US were already underfunded before the pandemic started. Nearly half of Americans between the ages of 32 and 61 do not have any retirement savings and most of those that do have savings under $21,000, according to a 2019 study from the Economic Policy Institute.

  Business Insider February 1, 2021
• ‘A lost history’: the US women who fought for better working conditions

  During the 1970s and 1980s, union avoidance developed into a multimillion-dollar industry as consultants and lawyers actively pursued employers to utilize their services. According to a 2019 report by the Economic Policy Institute, US companies spend nearly $340m a year on union avoidance advisers. In part as a result of the corporate backlash toward the labor movement, the union membership rate of the US workforce drastically declined over the past 50 years, from 20.1% in 1983 to 11.1% in 2015, driven primarily by union losses within the private sector.

  The Guardian February 1, 2021
• Bernie Sanders sparks #RaiseTheWage debate after comparing McDonald’s workers’ pay in America and Denmark

  The topic came under heavy scrutiny after Democrats pushed for a $15 federal minimum wage, over double the current rate of $7.25 (which was enacted in 2009). Under the proposed wage increase, nearly 32 million Americans – 21% of America’s total workforce – would get a raise, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). As Insider’s Grace Dean reported, the raise would benefit nearly one-third of Black workers, and six out of 10 working women. Overall, 23% of those who would benefit from the raise are Latino and Black women.

  Meaww February 1, 2021
• Parenting from prison: Ways to maintain your family ties while incarcerated

  Studies have also linked “the discriminatory incarceration of African American parents” to their children’s lower performance in school, which can undermine later-life success, according to researchers at the Economic Policy Institute. “Simply put, our criminal justice system makes a significant contribution to the racial achievement gap” in school and later-life success, researchers wrote.

  San Francisco Bay View February 1, 2021
• How minimum wage hike impacts janitors, small businesses

  The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 this year and gradually increase that minimum until it reaches $15 an hour in 2025. More than four in 10 janitors, housekeepers and other cleaning workers would see an improvement in pay from the change, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that websites describe as leaning left on the political spectrum. In total, 32 million Americans stand to benefit from an increase in the federal minimum wage.

  Economic Policy Institute said the rise in minimum wage would put an estimated $3,300 more a year into the pockets of affected workers who are employed the entire year. That’s a big difference considering that 59 percent of families living below the poverty line would benefit from the change.

  CleanLink February 1, 2021
• One map shows how much a $15 minimum wage would be worth in every state

  Under the proposed wage increase, nearly 32 million Americans — 21% of America’s total workforce — would get a raise, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

  Business Insider February 1, 2021
• Every jobs policy Joe Biden has proposed: Unemployment, paid leave, minimum wage on President’s wish list

  A $15 minimum wage for all workers would provide a pay boost for 21% of U.S. workers, the Economic Policy Institute estimates. And it would begin to close the wage gap for Black workers and other workers of color who often get stuck in low-paying jobs. The minimum wage has not been increased since 2009, when it was raised to $7.25.

  Forbes February 1, 2021
• How much would a $15 minimum wage really be worth?

  A new map created by Business Insider shows how much the increase would actually be for minimum wage workers in each state. While the Economic Policy Institute reports about 32 million Americans would receive a raise overall, how many workers in each state might actually be getting less because of where they live?

  KFOR-TV (Oklahoma) February 1, 2021
• For a community struggling with joblessness, a new workshop sets sights on solar

  The D.C. area continues to face high unemployment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, the District’s unemployment rate was 7.5%, higher than Maryland’s rate, 6.8%, and Virginia’s at 4.9%, according to the most recent figures available. In 2020, Black Washingtonians’ unemployment rates were 11%, compared to 2% for white Washingtonians, per the Economic Policy Institute.

  DCist February 1, 2021
• Economists refute King’s argument for going slow on COVID relief

  King’s image of saddling “our grandchildren” with budget debt was challenged by Josh Bivens, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a national progressive think tank. Bivens said future generations will likely fare worse if Congress fails to respond to the magnitude of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and follows centrist senators’ demands to curtail deficit spending.

  “I think the King formulation is super simplistic and really misguided right now,” Bivens told Beacon. “It is an absolute slam dunk that deficit financing another round of COVID relief will make our kids richer, not poorer.”

  Bivens argued in a Jan. 14 blog that policymakers should ignore criticisms by some GOP “deficit hawks” who claim a substantial federal stimulus will “overheat” the economy — meaning an influx of federal money will crowd out private investment and drive up inflation and interest rates, ultimately leading to a decline in economic output. Bivens argues that economic overheating is far off.

  “The U.S. economy has run far ‘too cold’ for decades, largely due to the enormous rise in income inequality redistributing income to richer households that save most of their income. Unless inequality is substantially reversed, economic overheating is highly unlikely,” he wrote, adding that Biden’s proposal “is highly unlikely to cause economic ‘overheating’ — and it would be a sign of its success if it did.”

  Bivens has also previously explained how arguments about the deficit, such as King’s claim that such spending is akin to “borrowing” from future generations, are misguided.

  “Rules that apply to households about debt don’t apply to the U.S. government. People often claim that because households reduce spending during tough times as a precautionary measure, the federal government should too. But this is a terrible analogy,” he wrote in In These Times in April 2020, as the economic impacts of the pandemic were becoming apparent. “In fact, the federal government should take on more debt exactly when households are trying to take on less.”

  Maine Beacon February 1, 2021