And in a forthcoming report from the Economic Policy Institute, real wage growth, which is adjusted for inflation, increased during the pandemic. “Between 2019 and 2022, hourly wage growth was strongest at the bottom of the wage distribution. The 10th percentile real hourly wage (adjusted for inflation) grew 9.0% over the three-year period. Wage growth was about one-third as fast for middle-wage workers,” it read.
Bucks County Courier Times
March 16, 2023
Another concerning gap in teacher wages is the overall disparity between educators and similarly educated individuals in different professions. This finding has been described by the Economic Policy Institute as the “teacher pay penalty,” where teachers on average earned 76.5 cents on the dollar in 2021 from what similar college-educated professionals were paid.
K-12 Dive
March 16, 2023
The Raise the Wage Act would increase New York’s $15 per hour minimum wage over the next three years and index each year after to match inflation.
Data from the Economic Policy Institute finds if this bill is approved, it would increase wages for about 3 million workers across the state by more than $3,000.
Public News Service
March 10, 2023
Crucially, workers increase their wages by leaving jobs, not by staying at them: A cashier making $13 an hour at a coffee shop gets $16 an hour by taking a position at a pet store, then $19 an hour by becoming a manager at a restaurant. Yet workers tend to look for new positions less often than you might think, given the financial incentives. “There’s a lot of turnover and churn among low-wage workers, but even so, people don’t find changing their jobs that easy,” Elise Gould, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told me. “Maybe you don’t happen to see the help wanted signs. Maybe you don’t think you’ll get hired. Or you don’t have the time to look for another job.”
The Atlantic
March 10, 2023
However, research shows significant gaps in opportunity equity are rife throughout the business world. Reports from the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Center for Women in Academic Medicine and Science and the American Association of University Women, among others, all highlight opportunity equity gaps lurking in employment pay, and advancement related to race and gender, let alone other factors.
Forbes
March 10, 2023
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute, director of research: “If there’s a quibble on the tax side, it’s that it doesn’t ask enough of plenty of American households who could afford to pay more.”
Reuters
March 10, 2023
Research published by the Economic Policy Institute in August 2022 “found that public school teachers nationally make nearly 24% less in weekly earnings than similarly credentialed college graduates in other fields,” explains Rios. “When benefits such as healthcare were taken into account, the total compensation penalty was 14%, the widest gap since 1979.”
Planetizen
March 10, 2023
Economic Policy Institute Economist Monique Morrissey: “Delaying Social Security claiming isn’t a viable option for everyone, but more people might choose this strategy if they better understood the advantages. Clearer language and more frequent mailed statements would help people understand how delaying take-up can be a cost-effective way to increase secure monthly income in retirement.”
Office of Senator Bill Cassidy
March 10, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Black workers in unions see a wage boost of 13.1% compared to comparable non-union workers, and Latino workers see an 18.8% union wage increase. Unions disproportionately help Black and Latino workers realize wage gains they otherwise would potentially not get in non-union jobs. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, it has also been found that 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions – the highest that Gallup has recorded since 1965. Despite growing support for unions, decades of anti-union attacks have made it harder for workers to organize and union membership has fallen to a new low of 10.1 percent in 2022. The PRO Act restores fairness to the economy by strengthening federal laws that protect workers’ rights to join a union and bargain for higher pay, better benefits, and safer workplaces.
Office of Senator Bob Menendez
March 10, 2023
The average cost of living for a family of four in the Hawkeye State in 2022 was $73,867, sixth-lowest among all 50 states, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. The median home price in 2022 was $161,700, according to Rocket Homes.
Money Talks News
March 10, 2023