Media clips

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• Gig Drivers Strive for a Safer Workplace

  An estimated 54% of gig workers do not receive employer-provided benefits, according to Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy, a labor advocacy organization. Most gig workers are classified as independent contractors and are not entitled to benefits enjoyed by full-time employees. Those missing benefits can include paid sick days, health and safety protections, or unemployment insurance, according to a survey analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. 

  YES! Magazine September 30, 2022
• Workers at Philadelphia Home Depot file for union

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 42% of Home Depot workers earn less than $15 an hour. Most — 68% — make between $12 to $18. The living wage in Philadelphia for a single worker with no children is $17.87.

  Mundo Obrero Workers World September 30, 2022
• The fight for a living wage in Kansas City no longer stops at $15 an hour

  Over the decades, real wages  —  meaning wages accounting for inflation  —  have not increased significantly in comparison to the cost of living. The current value of the federally mandated minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, is at its lowest real-dollar level since the 1950s, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Missouri Independent September 30, 2022
• Column: Young people need to fight for Social Security — now more than ever

  Other than retirement plans, most families have “little or no retirement savings” and “nearly half of families have no retirement account savings at all, Monique Morrissey of the labor-supported Economic Policy Institute documented in a 2019 paper.

   
  LA Times September 30, 2022
• How one elementary principal is dealing with hiring staff and kids’ learning loss

  Schools in the U.S. are back to in-person classes, but many districts continue to struggle with hiring. The Economic Policy Institute tracked trends in teacher wages and compensation and found that “teachers are paid less (in weekly wages and total compensation) than their nonteacher college-educated counterparts.” 

  Marketplace September 30, 2022
• Why Is the Dollar Crushing Global Currencies if Inflation Is so Bad?

  Data from the Economic Policy institute shows that inflation has been similar worldwide over the past year-plus, with little correlation to either pandemic spending or post-pandemic recovery as measured by unemployment levels.

  Based on that data, EPI argues that supply chain disruptions, rising commodity costs and shifting consumption patterns are more to blame for inflation than the money printer. That is, the problem isn’t too much money but too few goods, in the wrong place.

  Nasdaq September 30, 2022
• Income inequality in Ohio

  Zoom in: According to the Economic Policy Institute, Cleveland-Elyria is the most unequal metropolitan area in the state.

  • Average yearly income of the top 1% is over $1 million. The bottom 99% is just over $48,000.
  Axios September 30, 2022
• Two states, two visions for the future of labor

  The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), by contrast, has found that right-to-work laws did not boost job growth and are associated with lower wages and benefits for all workers. “By restricting the capacity of unions to bargain for workers and thus lowering wages and benefits, RTW laws lower tax revenues and reduce aggregate demand,” EPI said in a report published in 2018.

  VOX September 30, 2022
• Inflation vs. Recession

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, economists’ opinions vary on which is worse for an economy: a recession or rising inflation. One common argument is that inflation is worse than a recession because it impacts everyone. By contrast, a recession—and the associated job losses that come with it—may impact a smaller number of people.

  Forbes September 30, 2022
• Buckle up, America: The Fed plans to sharply boost unemployment

  When rates rise, “Any consumer item that people take on debt to buy — whether that’s automobiles or washing machines — gets more expensive,” said Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute. 

  “Inflation will come down quite a bit faster if we actually hit a recession. But the cost of that is going to be much bigger,” said Bivens said. 

  The danger, Bivens said, is that the Fed has set off a runaway train. Once unemployment starts rising sharply, it’s hard to make it stop. Rather than neatly halting at the 4.4% rate projected by Fed officials, the jobless numbers could easily keep rising.

  “This idea that there’s an inflation dial that the Fed can just haul on really hard and leave everything else untouched, that’s a fallacy,” Bivens said. 

  Instead of the soft landing for the economy the Fed says it’s aiming for, Bivens added, “we are now pointing the plane at the ground pretty hard and hitting the accelerator.

  CBS September 30, 2022