EPI in the news

• Viewpoint: Migration Isn’t Going Away. Unions Have to Get Sharper on It.

  No wonder the federal government spends 12 times as much to enforce immigration laws as it spends to enforce labor standards, a 2022 Economic Policy Institute analysis found. Imagine if OSHA, the Labor Department, and the NLRB were staffed the way border security is, and management lived in fear of surprise raids to enforce worker rights!

  Labor Notes | June 28, 2024
• New law guarantees domestic workers minimum wage in Rhode Island

  A 2022 report by the Economic Policy Institute, found that in the United States the vast majority of domestic workers — more than 90 percent — are women; just over half are Black, Hispanic, or Asian American and Pacific Islander women; and they tend to be older than other workers.

  Associated Press | June 28, 2024
• New protections empower H-2A agricultural workers to organize

  The Economic Policy Institute reported that American employers prefer to use the H-2A program over hiring U.S. workers because they see foreign workers as “exploitable.” American employers often fight against new H-2A regulations, alleging that the program is already too “expensive” and “bureaucratically complex.” 

  Prism Reports | June 28, 2024
• If you want to see what the GOP has in store for the rest of America, visit the Old South

  For hardcore policy wonks, the Economic Policy Institute(EPI) did a deep dive into the SEDM last month: here’s how it works in summary.

  Republicans claim that by offering low-cost non-union labor and little to no regulatory oversight to massive corporations, they’re able to “attract business to the region.” This, they promise, will cause (paraphrasing President Kennedy out of context) “a rising tide that lifts all boats.”

  Raw Story | June 28, 2024
• Competing Narratives on Real Wages, Incomes Under Biden

  Subsequently, the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank partly funded by labor unions, argues that the U.S.’s recovery from the pandemic in the following months reversed this trend, driving real average wage growth down as many of these low-wage workers rejoined the labor force.

  FactCheck.org | June 28, 2024
• The mismatch in US economy perception versus reality

  “The macroeconomic story is strong. But there is a huge disconnect between reality and people’s perceptions, which points to a lot of misinformation about the economy,” says Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.

  “It’s that one-two punch of high price levels from the burst of inflation, and misinformation,” she adds.

  …

  An EPI study, opens new tab in March found that real hourly wages for the lowest 10% of earners grew 12.1% between 2019 and 2023. In the same period, middle-wage workers experienced 3.0% real wage growth, while the wages of the top 10% of earners grew just 0.9%.

  Reuters | June 28, 2024
• Discretionary Income and How to Calculate It

  However, for everyone else, it has been detrimental, as wage growth has not kept up with productivity growth. Figures provided by the Economic Policy Institute reveal that productivity rose 74% between 1973 and 2013, but the average hourly wage earned by workers gained only 9%. 

  Business Insider | June 28, 2024

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