December 22, 2014

Santa’s Advice to Labor Department: Check Your Math Twice

The beloved holiday movie A Christmas Story was co-opted this week by the Department of Labor to argue that the minimum wage is worth 20% less than it was in November 1983 when the film was released. But the Department’s number-crunchers should have should followed Santa’s lead in checking…
September 18, 2014

Politico Ad: Sen. Warren’s War on Common Sense

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been a vocal proponent for a higher minimum wage, and not just the $10.10 figure that President Obama has supported. In a commentary for ABC News written earlier this year, Warren argued that if the “minimum wage had kept up with increases in productivity, it…
September 15, 2014

Employer Responses to a $9 Minimum Wage in Nebraska

This fall, Nebraskans will vote on an initiative that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour by 2016. Proponents claim the wage hike will bring with it many benefits and few consequences. The labor union-backed Nebraskans for Better Wages, for instance, argues that it will help “restore…
July 29, 2014

Union-Backed Think Tank Sets a New Standard For Intellectual Dishonesty

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), which is generously funded by the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, is a staunch advocate for increasing the minimum wage. CEPR’s senior economist, John Schmitt, has been a loyal foot solider in the minimum wage battle for years, writing on the topic in…
July 22, 2014

New Analysis: One-Fifth of Lost Jobs From $10.10 Held By Hispanics

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the 2009 federal minimum wage increase to $7.25, and the network of labor unions and advocacy groups who are promoting another one aren’t wasting the occasion. But in their campaign to promote the supposed benefits of a wage hike, they’ve left out…
California July 1, 2014

A Minimum Wage Wake-Up Call for California

On July 1st, California’s minimum wage rose to $9 an hour, the first stage of a two-part increase to $10. Elsewhere, localities in the state have their sights set even higher, topping out with a $15 ballot proposal in San Francisco. These wage hikes couldn’t come at a worse time…
Washington June 24, 2014

New Survey: Seattle’s $15 Misstep

Earlier this month, Seattle became the first major city in the United States to approve a $15 minimum wage. With the ink from Mayor Ed Murray’s signature barely dry on the new ordinance, activists and legislators in other major cities—including New York, Chicago, and San Francisco– have announced their interest…
News June 23, 2014

A Copy-and-Paste Response to Inconvenient Facts about Paid Leave

In addition to researching wage mandates, the Employment Policies Institute has also conducted a series of employer surveys to gauge the impact of paid sick leave laws. Consistent with earlier research from San Francisco–published, ironically, by advocates for a paid leave mandate–EPI found that proponents of the…
June 2, 2014

Summer Bummer for Teens in Country’s Largest Metro Areas

Recently, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new analysis of Census Bureau data showing that many of America’s top U.S. metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, and San Francisco, have youth unemployment rates that average far higher than the national average of 21.6 percent.  Four of the…
May 22, 2014

Bill Clinton’s Case Against a 40% Wage Hike

In 1998, the U.S. economy was booming: Unemployment was at 4.6 percent, and just under 14 percent of teenagers in the labor force were searching for work. But even in these robust economic times, then-President Bill Clinton’s economic team gave a thumbs down to a 40 percent minimum wage hike,…