Biography
Valerie Rawlston Wilson is director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE), a nationally recognized source for expert reports and policy analyses on the economic condition of America’s people of color. Prior to joining EPI, Wilson was an economist and vice president of research at the National Urban League Washington Bureau, where she was responsible for planning and directing the bureau’s research agenda. She has written extensively on various issues impacting economic inequality in the United States—including employment and training, income and wealth disparities, access to higher education, and social insurance—and has also appeared in print, television, and radio media. In 2010, through the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs, she was selected to deliver the keynote address at an event on Minority Economic Empowerment at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. In 2011, Wilson served on a National Academies Panel on Measuring and Collecting Pay Information from U.S. Employers by Gender, Race, and National Origin.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Understanding black-white disparities in labor market outcomes requires models that account for persistent discrimination and unequal bargaining power
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Botched policy responses to globalization have decimated manufacturing employment with often overlooked costs for Black, Brown, and other workers of color: Investing in infrastructure and rebalancing trade can create good jobs for all
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The costs of racial and ethnic labor market discrimination and solutions that can contribute to closing employment and wage gaps: Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth
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Latina Equal Pay Day: Latina workers remain greatly underpaid, including in front-line occupations
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Pandemic-related economic insecurity among Black and Hispanic households would have been worse without a swift policy response
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Black women face a persistent pay gap, including in essential occupations during the pandemic
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EPI comments on OMB’s methods and leading practices for advancing equity and support for underserved communities
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News from EPI › EPI applauds the House’s repeal of Trump EEOC’s conciliation rule
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Racial representation in professional occupations: By the numbers
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Racism and the Economy: Focus on Employment
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Racial disparities in income and poverty remain largely unchanged amid strong income growth in 2019
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Latinx workers—particularly women—face devastating job losses in the COVID-19 recession
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Black women workers are essential during the crisis and for the recovery but still are greatly underpaid
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Reconstruction 2020: Valuing Black Lives and Economic Opportunities for All
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Inequities exposed: How COVID-19 widened racial inequities in education, health, and the workforce: Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor
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Rebuilding the House That Anti-Blackness Built in Our COVID Response
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Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality
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From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century: With William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen
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Exposed and underpaid: Women still make less than men, including in sectors especially affected by the coronavirus
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AAPI women face a double pay penalty for race and gender
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What to Watch on Jobs Day: Anticipated distortions to payroll employment and wage growth
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Racial and ethnic income gaps persist amid uneven growth in household incomes
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News from EPI › Income growth slows significantly again in 2018
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What to watch for in the 2018 Census data on earnings, incomes, and poverty
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Wage growth is weak for a tight labor market—and the pace of wage growth is uneven across race and gender
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Black workers endure persistent racial disparities in employment outcomes
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News from EPI › Jobs rebound in June points to ongoing recovery
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What to Watch on Jobs Day: Data volatility or signs of an economic slowdown?
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Black unemployment is at least twice as high as white unemployment at the national level and in 14 states and the District of Columbia
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The Raise the Wage Act of 2019 would give black workers a much-needed boost in pay