To move away from the Supreme Court for a moment, we can see this pattern of leniency for some and the stiff arm of the law for everyone else wherever we choose to look in American society. Take the workplace. A 2017 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that in the 10 most populous states, an estimated 2.4 million people lose a combined $8 billion income to unscrupulous employers. If this is representative of national trends, the institute contends, then American workers lose more than $15 billion a year to wage theft. For comparison’s sake, the total losses attributed to all property crime in 2018 amounted to $16.4 billion.
New York Times
April 20, 2023
But even in “places that have successfully, to their credit, raised minimum wages substantially over the federal level,” says Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, “they’re still in many cases not a living wage.”
CNBC
April 20, 2023
Others see a payroll tax increase as a relatively straightforward solution. “We could either raise revenues modestly, as I prefer, or we could cut benefits by about a fifth,” or even more if action is delayed, Monique Morrissey, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said at the AEI event Friday. “In my mind, this isn’t a difficult decision,” she said, because Americans “across the political spectrum oppose benefit cuts and are willing to contribute more” to preserve Social Security.
MarketWatch
April 20, 2023
The result is eye-popping inequality between the boardroom and the factory floor. According to a survey of 350 of the largest US quoted companies by the Economic Policy Institute, realised CEO pay, including proceeds from equity shares and stock options, rose 1,460 per cent from 1978 to 2021. This compares with 18 per cent growth in typical worker’s pay over the same period.
Financial Times
April 20, 2023
DeRose said that despite state law already requiring minor employees to obtain permits and parental permission to work, many employers hire children without going through those necessary steps. Minors are supposed to have work permits prior to starting employment; however, DeRose said cases of child labor violations in the state have been rising in recent years, a fact corroborated by a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute that found that child labor violations have been going up across the nation.
WTAP
April 20, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute found that a year of infant care can cost Wisconsinites more than tuition at a public college. Families have started to plan pregnancies around the availability of care, as they encounter years-long wait lists at child care centers.
NPR
April 20, 2023
Ten states launched efforts to weaken child labor protections in the last year, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. Several states have already passed laws weakening or lowering restrictions. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law this March eliminating age verification and parental consent requirements for kid workers. Iowa passed a separate pro-child labor law in 2022 and is considering another bill that would allow parents to lie about their kids’ ages to get them jobs.
Gizmodo
April 20, 2023
Between 2001 and 2021, the share of 16- to 19-year-olds not working increased by 22.4 percentage points, according to an analysis of federal data by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
Governing
April 20, 2023
“It’s the perfect storm of a few different developments that the pandemic has brought to bear,” says Dave Kamper, a senior policy coordinator with the Economic Policy Institute. “One is that inequality is even more obvious than it’s ever been. The CEO pay gap is higher now than it’s ever been.”
NPR
April 20, 2023
“Far too often working families are robbed of their hard-earned tax refunds by unscrupulous private tax preparers,” said David Kass, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Fairness. “Passing the Tax Refund Protection Act is a critical step in ensuring that Americans receive their full tax benefit through increased transparency and accountability from tax preparers.”
The bill is endorsed by Americans for Tax Fairness, Consumer Action, the Economic Policy Institute, and Prosperity Now.
Sen. Cory Booker
April 20, 2023