Areas of expertise
Labor policy • Wage inequality • Unemployment insurance • Long-term unemployment • Labor force participation • Minimum wage • Overtime
Biography
Heidi Shierholz leads EPI’s policy team, which monitors wage and employment policies coming out of Congress and the administration and advances a worker-first policy agenda. Throughout her career, Shierholz has educated policymakers, journalists, and the public about the effects of economic policies on low- and middle-income families. Her research and insights on labor and employment policy, the effects of automation on the labor market, wage stagnation, inequality, and many other topics routinely shape policy proposals and inform economic news coverage. Her work has been cited in many broadcast, radio, print, and online news outlets, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and HuffPost.
Shierholz was an economist at EPI from 2007 to 2014 and she rejoined EPI in 2017. From 2014 to 2017, she served the Obama administration as chief economist at the Department of Labor. She worked with Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and other department leaders to develop and execute initiatives to boost workers’ rights, wages, and benefits; to protect workers’ savings, and to increase workplace safety. She also provided economic analysis on the wages of jobs added during the recovery, brought heightened attention to the need for paid family leave, and fought for new regulations guaranteeing overtime pay for millions of workers and paid sick leave for over a million federal contract workers.
Prior to joining EPI in 2007, Shierholz was assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto. Shierholz commutes to work on a steel-framed bicycle and in her—limited—free time tends to her beehives.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan
M.A., Economics, University of Michigan
M.S., Statistics, Iowa State University
B.A., Mathematics, Grinnell College
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Nearly a year into the pandemic and unemployment claims remain 17 million above their pre-pandemic levels: Congress must pass $1.9 trillion relief bill
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EPI comments on the proposed delay of effective date for the Independent Contractor Rule
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EPI testimony on increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour
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Unemployment insurance claims rose last week: Congress must act before mid-March, or millions will lose benefits
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EPI comments on the proposed delay of effective date for the Tip Rule
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News from EPI › EPI applauds the reintroduction of the FAIR Act
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There are 18 million more continuing UI claims than one year ago: Congress must pass relief package
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CBO analysis confirms that a $15 minimum wage raises earnings of low-wage workers, reduces inequality, and has significant and direct fiscal effects: Large progressive redistribution of income caused by higher minimum wage leads to significant and cross-cutting fiscal effects
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The economy Trump handed off to President Biden: 25.5 million workers—15.0% of the workforce—hit by the coronavirus crisis in January
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Unemployment claims topped 1.1 million last week: Congress must pass bold relief measures to keep crucial programs from expiring
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1.3 million people applied for unemployment insurance last week: Policymakers must pass crucial relief and recovery measures
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President Biden inherits a weak labor market due to inadequate COVID-19 response: Biden and Congress must make stimulus its first priority
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Unemployment claims increase as COVID-19 surges
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The economy President-elect Biden is inheriting: 26.8 million workers—15.8% of the workforce—are being directly hurt by the coronavirus crisis
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First UI claims of 2021 are still higher than the worst of the Great Recession
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News from EPI › Trump administration finalizes regulation that will cost tipped workers more than $700 million annually
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Unemployment insurance claims continue to climb: Congress must pass a stimulus package to prevent millions of people from being left with nothing
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Unemployment claims hit highest level in months: Millions more jobs will be lost if Congress doesn’t act
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The economy President-elect Biden is inheriting: More than 26 million workers—15.5% of the workforce—are being directly hurt by the coronavirus downturn
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One million people applied for unemployment insurance last week: Unless Congress acts, millions of people will soon be left without a safety net
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Unemployment claims rise for second week in a row: Millions will lose federal unemployment benefits in December unless Senate Republicans act
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No improvement in initial unemployment claims as labor market gains falter
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With unemployment benefits for millions of workers set to expire in December, Senate Republicans must stop blocking aid
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What the next president inherits: More than 25 million workers are being hurt by the coronavirus downturn
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Over a million people still filed initial unemployment claims last week with no COVID-19 relief in sight
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Heading into election day, at least 30 million workers are being hurt by the coronavirus recession
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Senate Republicans have failed struggling families: It is cruel, and bad economics, to withhold stimulus aid
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EPI comments on independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act