Share this page!

Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
Twitter logo
13 Dec, 6 tweets, 3 min read
NEW: Wage inequality continued to soar in 2020. Wages for the top 0.1% skyrocketed 389% since 1979, while wages for the bottom 90% grew just 28%.

Learn more: epi.org/blog/wage-ineq…
Over the past four decades, wages for the bottom 90% have been redistributed upwards.

The top 1.0% earned 13.8% of all wages in 2020.

The bottom 90% received just 60.2% of all wages in 2020, the lowest share since data began in 1937.
Let's be clear: skyrocketing wage growth for the top is a policy choice. And it starts with the erosion of collective bargaining.

Workers need Congress to pass the PRO Act to eliminate the barriers to organize a union and increase worker power. epi.org/publication/wh… Image
Wages for the top have soared in part because CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,322% over the past four decades. Policymakers can limit CEOs’ ability to attain increasingly higher pay—and #taxtherich. epi.org/publication/ce…
Maintaining low unemployment, rebuilding collective bargaining, improving labor standards such as the minimum wage, and eliminating noncompete agreements are just a few of the policies needed to enhance worker power. epi.org/unequalpower/p…
The continuous growth of wage inequality reaffirms the need to generate robust wage growth for the vast majority and rebuild worker power.

Learn more from @LarryMishel and @joriskywalker: epi.org/blog/wage-ineq…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Economic Policy Institute

Economic Policy Institute Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @EconomicPolicy

Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
15 Dec
Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy. Our new report documents how high unionization levels are associated with greater economic, personal, and democratic well-being. epi.org/publication/un…
We divided the 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, into three groups based on their level of union density. Image
The 17 U.S. states with the highest union densities have state minimum wages that are on average 19% higher than the national average and 40% higher than those in low-union-density states. Image
Read 6 tweets
Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
21 Oct
Latina workers remain greatly underpaid, including in front-line occupations.

Latina workers make between 6% to 32% less than non-Hispanic white men in jobs at the center of national efforts to address COVID-19. #LatinaEqualPayDay
epi.org/blog/latina-eq…
Across these occupations, the pay disparities are largest among physicians and surgeons: Latina doctors are paid 68% of the average hourly wage of white male doctors (a difference of $20.46 per hour). #LatinaEqualPayDay
Latina teachers and child care workers are paid just 84% of what white men are paid in their respective occupations. #LatinaEqualPayDay
Read 6 tweets
Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
6 Jun
25 states cutting pandemic programs are weakening their own recoveries. Recipients of benefits in these states are expected to lose $22 billion in aid, & as a consequence states will be foregoing an enormous amount of economic activity, writes @hshierholz nytimes.com/2021/06/06/opi…
If employers in need of workers can’t attract them, they'll raise wages to hire them away from other employers, who will raise wages to retain their workers, & so on. When those measures don’t result in substantial increase in workers, that’s a labor shortage, writes @hshierholz.
Wages are growing solidly but not fast enough to raise concern about damaging labor shortages, given that job growth is also strong. Further, we still have 7.6 million fewer jobs than we did before Covid and there are large employment gaps, writes @hshierholz.
Read 5 tweets
Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
18 May
Happening now! Watch the livestream here: epi.org/event/prosecut…
There's a growing number of district attorneys and state AGs prosecuting cases against employers for crimes like wage theft and workplace safety violations, says our moderator @TerriGerstein. More should join the effort.

Read our new report to learn more: epi.org/publication/fi…
"Wage theft is pervasive," says @JosePGarza, DA for Travis County in Texas. Travis County has added “wage theft” to a form allowing for online reporting of certain crimes.
Read 8 tweets
Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
17 May
Historically, wage theft and other crimes against workers have not been prosecuted. But state and local prosecutors are increasingly fighting workplace abuses, and more should join the effort.

Read our new report by @TerriGerstein & @LWPHarvard: epi.org/publication/fi…
This development is important in light of the limited options for enforcing workers’ rights—as a result of the underfunding of labor enforcement agencies—and employers’ increasing use of forced arbitration clauses, which prevent workers from suing in court.
Employer crimes like wage theft, worker misclassification, unemployment insurance tax evasion, and workplace dangers are widespread, with serious consequences for workers, communities, and local economies. More district attorneys and state AGs should get involved in this work.
Read 4 tweets
Economic Policy Institute Profile picture
12 May
Nonlicensed school staff receive low pay and no employment during the summer months. Illinois is supporting these vital workers by offering unemployment benefits during the summer. Minnesota—which is considering a similar bill—should follow suit. epi.org/blog/illinois-…
Workers in the most common nonlicensed education occupations—like janitors and bus drivers—are paid less than the typical U.S. worker, whose median wage is $19.38/hour nationally.
This undervalued work is disproportionately done by women and workers of color. Women, Black workers, and Hispanic workers are all disproportionately represented in the nonlicensed school workforce.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @EconomicPolicy has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @EconomicPolicy!

Read all threads by @EconomicPolicy

:(