The pandemic has brought many economic challenges but also some good news for low-wage workers. Their hourly wages adjusted for inflation grew 9% during the pandemic.
That’s according to a new study from the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank focusing on low- and middle-income workers. Here & Now‘s Scott Tong hears from Elise Gould, a senior economist at the institute. She’s a co-author of the study.
WBUR Here and Now
April 14, 2023
When it comes to the health of the economy overall, the jobs report also doesn’t point to a recession in the near term, experts tell Vox. “There are just no signs of recession to me in this report. It’s very strong,” says Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute.
Overall, the jobs report signals that there is some cooling in the economy, but that key factors like unemployment remain in a solid place. “We are seeing clear slowing from the absolutely mind-boggling fast job growth that we had been seeing a year ago,” says Shierholz. “But it is still very strong. It is cooling but strong.”
VOX
April 14, 2023
Workers’ wages have lagged productivity for decades, as the Economic Policy Institute has faithfully reported. This is because employers have power to set wages. They aren’t the passive agents you learned about in baby economics class operating on a knife edge to keep prices at a minimum and forced to pay market wages.
Forbes
April 13, 2023
Workers’ wages have lagged productivity for decades, as the Economic Policy Institute has faithfully reported. This is because employers have power to set wages. They aren’t the passive agents you learned about in baby economics class operating on a knife edge to keep prices at a minimum and forced to pay market wages.
Forbes
April 13, 2023
A 2021 report by the Economic Policy Institute think tank reported that the decline in unionization has translated to a loss of earnings equivalent to $3,250 for a median full time worker.
VICE
April 13, 2023
Amid ongoing layoffs, the top 30 H-1B visa employers hired 34,000 new workers in 2022 and laid off at least 85,000 workers in 2022 and early 2023, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis found.
The Economic Times
April 13, 2023
Workers’ wages have lagged productivity for decades, as the Economic Policy Institute has faithfully reported. This is because employers have power to set wages. They aren’t the passive agents you learned about in baby economics class operating on a knife edge to keep prices at a minimum and forced to pay market wages.
Forbes
April 13, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 19 percent of black households have zero or negative net worth. Just 9 percent of white families are that poor. Today’s racial wealth gap is perhaps the most glaring legacy of American slavery and the violent economic dispossession that followed.
Thegrio.com
April 7, 2023
Also, the Economic Policy Institute estimates an investment that caps child care expenditures at 10 percent of a family’s income could increase women’s workforce participation enough to boost America’s GDP by about $210 billion.
The Hill
April 7, 2023