David Cooper
Economic Policy Inst
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by David:
Twenty-one states raised their minimum wages on New Year’s Day: Federal action is still needed
On January 1, minimum wages went up in 21 states. The increases range from a $0.22 inflation adjustment in Michigan to a $1.50 per hour raise in Virginia, the equivalent of an annual increase ranging from $458 to $3,120 for a full-time, full-year minimum wage worker. The updates can be viewed in EPI’s interactive Minimum… → Read More
The value of the federal minimum wage is at its lowest point in 66 years
The value of the federal minimum wage has reached its lowest point in 66 years, according to an EPI analysis of recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. Accounting for price increases in June, the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is now worth less than at any point since February 1956. At… → Read More
Rising minimum wages in 20 states and localities help protect workers and families against higher prices
On July 1, three states, 16 cities and counties, and the District of Columbia raised their minimum wages. These updates can all be viewed in EPI’s interactive Minimum Wage Tracker and in Table 1 and Table 2 below. At a time when families are coping with rising prices, these increases will help many low-wage workers… → Read More
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift the pay of 32 million workers: A demographic breakdown of affected workers and the impact on poverty, wages, and inequality
Summary The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would help eliminate poverty-level wages by raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. This report finds that the raise is long overdue and would deliver broad benefits to workers and the economy. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has… → Read More
Calls to establish a regionally adjusted federal minimum wage are dangerously misguided
We need to raise the federal minimum wage. Its deterioration in value over the past five decades has exacerbated poverty, widened inequality, and lowered wages for the bottom third of wage earners1—despite the fact that these workers typically are older and have more education than their counterparts a generation ago. One misguided critique of the… → Read More
Employers steal billions from workers’ paychecks each year: Survey data show millions of workers are paid less than the minimum wage, at significant cost to taxpayers and state economies
This report assesses the prevalence and magnitude of one form of wage theft—minimum wage violations (workers being paid at an effective hourly rate below the binding minimum wage)—in the 10 most populous U.S. states. We find that, in these states, 2.4 million workers lose $8 billion annually (an average of $3,300 per year for year-round workers) to minimum wage violations—nearly a quarter of… → Read More
Every state will lose jobs as a result of the coronavirus: Policymakers must take action
Workers across the country have already lost their jobs as businesses temporarily shutter in response to the social distancing measures necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus—a trend which can be mitigated if policymakers act quickly. Expectations of just how many jobs will be lost are rapidly evolving. Goldman Sachs forecasts that the economy will… → Read More
States are projected to lose more jobs due to the coronavirus: 14 million jobs could be lost by summer
Last week, we published a map showing the job losses in each state likely to occur over the coming months as businesses shutter in response to the social distancing measures necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19. Sadly, our predictions were likely too optimistic. Expectations of how many jobs will ultimately be lost are rapidly… → Read More
The coronavirus pandemic requires state and local policymakers to act, in addition to demanding a strong federal response
Federal lawmakers seem poised to enact legislation that would help combat some of the public health and economic dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this initial legislation is not sufficient to fully address the problems created by the crisis, and even with additional federal action, there are still steps that state and local policymakers… → Read More
COVID-19 pandemic makes clear that we need national paid sick leave legislation
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to highlight the costs of economic inequality in the United States. There’s the inequality in access to paid sick days and health insurance between high- and low-wage earners. There’s the inequality in the ability to work from home across sectors, with workers in one of the most exposed sectors—leisure and hospitality—being… → Read More
Labor Day 2019 | Low-wage workers are suffering from a decline in the real value of the federal minimum wage
While the unemployment rate remains at historic lows and the labor market continues to tighten, wage growth has remained below target levels and has indeed showed some signs of slowing in the first half of 2019. Low-wage workers in particular are falling behind because the federal minimum wage has not been raised in 10 years, remaining stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. → Read More
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift wages for over 33 million workers
On Thursday, July 18, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a proposal to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by October 2025. As shown in the tables below, such an increase in the federal wage floor would lift wages for 33.5 million workers across the country by… → Read More
Congress has never let the federal minimum wage erode for this long
June 16th marks the longest period in history without an increase in the federal minimum wage. The last time Congress passed an increase was in May 2007, when it legislated that the minimum wage be raised to $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. Since the minimum wage was first established in 1938, Congress has… → Read More
Don’t be fooled by calls for a ‘regional’ minimum wage
Federal law is supposed to be the backstop that protects the vulnerable when lower levels of government fail to act. But a recent proposal to establish a regionally-adjusted federal minimum wage would undermine this principle, codifying disparities into federal law that in many cases are not the result of benign economic forces. For one thing,… → Read More
Millions of workers are paid less than the “average” minimum wage
Last week, the New York Times published an article in “The Upshot” by Ernie Tedeschi, which argues that after accounting for state and local minimum wages, the United States currently has its highest average effective minimum wage ever at $11.80 per hour. The article correctly underscores how after 10 years of inaction at the federal… → Read More
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would lift pay for nearly 40 million workers
In 2018, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 was worth 14.8 percent less than when it was last raised in 2009, after adjusting for inflation, and 28.6 percent below its peak value in 1968, when the minimum wage was the equivalent of $10.15 in 2018 dollars. On January 16, 2019, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) announced that they would introduce the Raise the Wage Act of… → Read More
Over 5 million workers will have higher pay on January 1 thanks to state minimum wage increases
On January 1, 2019, 19 states will raise their minimum wages, lifting pay for 5.3 million workers across the country.1 The increases, which range from a $0.05 inflation adjustment in Alaska to a $2.00 per hour increase in New York City, will give affected workers approximately $5.4 billion in increased wages over the course of… → Read More
1 in 5 veterans would benefit from raising the federal minimum wage to $15: Workers at the federal minimum wage are paid less today than during the Vietnam War
This Veterans Day, as America celebrates the courage and sacrifice of the millions who have served the country in the armed forces, we should recognize that many of these veterans are now working in low-wage jobs. Of the 9 million veterans in payroll jobs across the country, approximately 1.8 million would get a raise if… → Read More
Poverty declined in most states in 2017
The American Community Survey (ACS) data released today shows that the decline in the national poverty rate was felt in nearly every state. The poverty rate decreased in 42 states and the District of Columbia, with 20 of those states experiencing statistically significant declines. While there were slight increases in the poverty rate in seven… → Read More
Why D.C. should implement Initiative 77: Tipped workers do better in ‘one-fair-wage’ cities; restaurants continue to thrive
In San Francisco and Seattle—“one-fair-wage” cities where tipped workers are paid the regular minimum wage regardless of tips—tipped workers receive higher take-home pay and restaurants big and small are operating successfully. → Read More