While child labor exploitation is on the rise, Republican lawmakers across America are simultaneously pushing to weaken child labor laws. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in 2023, bills proposing to weaken protections against child labor have already been introduced in seven states: Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Popular Information
May 5, 2023
Several states, including Minnesota and Missouri, have also recently introduced youth employment bills that extend work hours for teens, according to the Economic Policy Institute. New Jersey and New Hampshire enacted such laws last year.
CNN
May 5, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the past two years, 10 states have introduced or passed laws that have weakened child labor laws. The 10 states include Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
News Nation Now
May 5, 2023
These pay increases would help districts recruit and retain staff, the bill said, citing an Economic Policy Institute report that found teachers face a “wage penalty” compared to professionals in other fields who have similar education backgrounds.
K-12 Dive
May 5, 2023
In the U.S., labor strikes generally are up 50% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Klowden says this is in part because of the push to maintain the economy by bringing people back to work quickly, particular essential workers, even before people were able to feel comfortable and safe at work.
LAist
May 5, 2023
About 60 million workers are subject to forced arbitration, according to a 2018 report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
Fortune
May 5, 2023
A recent analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that in states where the federal minimum wage prevails ― many of them in the South ― 19% of workers are earning less than $15 per hour. In the 30 states that have set a higher minimum wage than the federal rate, that figure drops to 13%.
Huffpost
May 5, 2023
Proponents of higher minimum wages say that the federal threshold is so low that it results in poverty for many families. The federal minimum wage has lost nearly 30% of its purchasing power since it was last hiked in 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The Washington Examiner
May 5, 2023
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is planning to make an announcement (with no additional details provided) at 11 a.m. on minimum wage. The chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will be joined by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry, and Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz during the announcement.
Politico
May 5, 2023
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said the effect of minimum wage increases was one of the most studied aspects of her discipline.
They had been shown time and again to reduce inequality, poverty and gender and racial wage gaps, she said, while also reducing child abuse, teen pregnancy, suicides and reoffending rates — all without causing substantial job losses.
“When you raise the minimum wage, it makes our economy stronger,” she told reporters. “The policies of the last four-plus decades that have increased inequality… have also slowed overall economic growth.”
Barron’s
May 5, 2023