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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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
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With millions of people out of work, the Senate’s inaction is not only cruel, it’s bad economics
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30 weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic and workers desperately need stimulus
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1.3 million people filed initial unemployment insurance claims last week: It is terrible economics to pause stimulus talks
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With millions of workers receiving unemployment benefits and no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress must act
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At least 33 million workers are being hurt by the coronavirus recession
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Many workers have exhausted their state’s regular unemployment benefits: The CARES Act provided important UI benefits and Congress must act to extend them
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Half a year into the pandemic and millions of people are unemployed: Congress must provide relief
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UI claims rising as jobs remain scarce: Senate Republicans must stop blocking the restoration of UI benefits
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News from EPI › EPI applauds judge’s decision on joint-employer rule: Trump’s rule would have cost workers more than $1 billion annually
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Total initial UI claims have risen in each of the last four weeks: Congress must act
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UI claims remain historically high and the president’s executive memorandum is doing more harm than good: Congress must reinstate the extra $600
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UI claims remain historically high and the president’s sham executive memorandum is doing next to nothing: Congress must reinstate the $600
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EPI comment on DOL Bad Advice Rule