The data come from Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute who runs the tracker “How many low-wage workers are in the U.S.?” Before the pandemic, fast-food workers, home health aides, janitors and other low-wage workers saw modest pay increases largely due to 30 states raising their state minimum wages above the $7.25-an-hour federal requirement, Zipperer says.
Washington Post
March 31, 2023
According to a report last year from the Economic Policy Institute, the average weekly wages of U.S. public school teachers increased $29 from 1996 to 2021. The weekly wages of other college graduates rose by $445 in the same period. What the report calls “the teacher weekly wage penalty” is greater than 20% in 28 states (in Maine, it’s 24%), where teachers are paid less than 80 cents on the dollar compared to similar college-educated workers in those states.
Central Maine
March 31, 2023
Workers in the 10th percentile, that is those making less than 90% of everyone else, saw real wages (or those adjusted for inflation) grow 9% between 2019 and 2022, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute. They earned $12.57 per hour in 2022, or $26,145 annually. It’s the biggest hike they’ve seen in decades as measured by business cycles, which are periods of economic growth followed by a contraction and possible recession.
CNBC
March 31, 2023
That roughly 2-to-1 relationship between Black and white unemployment has held true for a long time, according to Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. The gap is especially harmful during times of crisis — when Black workers routinely face unemployment rates upwards of 15 percent — but it also means that Black and other marginalized workers can see their unemployment rates drop faster than white workers.
FiveThirtyEight
March 31, 2023
Over the course of 2019 through 2022, the 10th percentile real hourly wage, which represents the lowest-earning workers, grew 9%. This jump can be attributed to policies passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the tightening labor market from low unemployment, giving workers increased leverage over their employers, according to research from the Economic Policy Institute released on Thursday.
The Washington Examiner
March 24, 2023
Cites EPI research on corporate profits.
Breaking Points
March 24, 2023
“It’s a really troubling moment right now,” said Jennifer Sherer of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “We should be strengthening the system, including making sure that the permitting and the permissions and the vetting are stronger, not weaker.”
Bloomberg Law
March 24, 2023
Between 2019 and 2022, the lowest-paid saw their real income grow 9%, according to a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute. Even accounting for inflation, income for workers in the bottom 10% grew faster than in any recovery since 1979.
“It’s incredibly unusual how well they did,” said Elise Gould, EPI senior economist and one of the report’s authors.
CBS Moneywatch
March 24, 2023
States across the country are attempting to weaken child labor protections, just as violations of these standards are rising, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. The group issued a report this week that identifies 10 states as introducing or passing bills weakening child labor standards in the past two years alone.
Route Fifty
March 24, 2023