|
|
|
|
A note from EPI's Kirstyn Flood: EPI hosted our first annual Black History Month event, “Black Workers Roundtable: Policy Priorities During the 2020 Presidential Race.” This event was created out of my desire to bring the needs of black workers to the forefront and to highlight the expertise of black researchers and advocates. The panel featured experts discussing key issues presidential candidates should consider to support black workers, such as jobs and unemployment, unions, wages, and voter turnout: Gbenga Ajilore, senior economist at the Center for American Progress; Jessica Fulton, vice president at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; Janelle Jones, managing director of policy and research at The Groundwork Collaborative; and Algernon Austin, senior researcher at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
When asked to use three words to describe their vision for black workers beyond 2020, the panelists said, “Combat structural racism,” “Black women best,” “Unions & political power,” and “Build black power.” Follow #BlackWorkers2020 on Twitter to see insights from the event. Watch the video »
Also, EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould discussed the worsening black–white wage gaps in a new blog post. Gould argued that presidential candidates should discuss how to reduce these gaps, which have persisted over the last 40 years and have worsened over the last 20 years. Read the blog post »
|
|
Share the video:
What’s the vision for black workers for the 2020 election and beyond?
|
|
On Wednesday, EPI President Thea Lee testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means on the impact of the imbalanced U.S.–China economic relationship on U.S. jobs, wages, businesses, and long-term growth. In her testimony, Lee discussed the history of U.S. trade policy toward China, problems with Trump’s “phase one” deal with China, and fundamental flaws in the U.S.–China economic relationship. According to new EPI research, the growing U.S.–China trade deficit was responsible for the loss of 3.7 million U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2018. These job losses are spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia—and every congressional district in America. Watch Thea's testimony here. Read the testimony »
|
|
EPI launched a website aimed at shedding light on how the U.S. tax and spending system affects household income up and down the income distribution. The U.S. Tax & Spending Explorer allows users to take a deep dive into the ways that the federal government affects the inequality of households’ incomes through taxes and through spending on social insurance and safety net programs. The explorer also examines so-called “tax expenditures,” sometimes referred to as the hidden federal budget. Visit the website »
|
|
Wage growth was strongest for the highest-wage workers while median hourly wages grew just 1.0% last year, according to a new EPI report. State of Working America Wages 2019 details the most recent hourly wage trends through 2019, showing that large gaps by gender, race, and education level remain—and some of these gaps are increasing. Read the report »
|
|
New research from Penn State economics professor and EPI research associate Lonnie Golden finds that part-time workers face an adjusted hourly wage penalty of 29.3% compared with workers with similar demographic characteristics and education levels who work full time. Even after fully adjusting for their industry and occupation, part-time workers are paid 19.8% less than their full-time counterparts. Read the report »
|
|
|
|
EPI President Thea Lee is quoted throughout a Capital & Main article discussing new findings from a joint analysis from EPI and Capital & Main on how well middle-class Americans are faring. “Despite what we heard at the State of the Union, the truth is that this economy is not performing well for most Americans,” Lee said. | Under Trump, Income Growth Slows Across U.S. »
|
|
|
CNN also cited EPI’s recently published report on wage growth. “Wage growth for low- and middle-wage workers continues to be slower than would be expected in an economy with relatively low unemployment,” EPI Senior Economist Elise Gould said. | American Paychecks Just Aren't Getting Much Bigger—Unless You're Rich »
|
|
|
“As a civil rights lawyer for fifty years, I’ve watched time and time again as wealthy and powerful interests have used racial dog whistles to divide working-class people across racial lines.” Read more »
|
|
|
Share this newsletter:
EPI News: Black Workers Roundtable provides future vision
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
