‘It’s not a labor shortage, it’s a wage shortage’

EPI's Heidi Shierholz and Josh Bivens debunk the myth that "too generous" unemployment benefits are leading to a labor shortage.

Fact-checking the labor shortage hype In the first episode of EPI's relaunched State of Working America podcast, EPI's Heidi Shierholz and Josh Bivens debunk the myth that "too generous" unemployment benefits are leading to a labor shortage. Listen to the episode | Read their analysis 'It's not a labor shortage, it's a wage shortage' Shierholz also discussed the labor shortage myth on the Pitchfork Economics podcast: "The thing that I always suggest that people say is—when they hear an employer say, 'I can't find the workers that I need'—always add the phrase 'at the wage I want to pay.'" Listen to the episode What if it's not a labor shortage, but just the return of tipping customers driving wage growth in restaurants? Since December 2020, the rise in tip income, not an increase in base wages, can likely entirely explain the acceleration of wages for production and nonsupervisory workers in restaurants and bars. Read the blog post Share the podcast: Fact-checking the labor shortage hype Share Tweet What we're talking about Disparities persist in who can telework Recent media reports have focused on workers who were working from home during the pandemic and now don't want to go back to the workplace. But the majority of workers never had that luxury. Black and Hispanic workers, in particular, have been less likely to be able to telework during COVID. Read the blog post Labor rights and civil rights: One intertwined struggle The core idea behind "civil rights" is that people should have the freedom to exist in political and social equality with one another. But in the context of employment, an individual worker has a starkly unequal relationship with their employer. Read the blog post The president's budget shows what true 'fiscal responsibility' means The first priorities of fiscal policy should be ensuring high-pressure labor markets and low unemployment, and reducing inequality. The president's budget scores extremely high on these. Read the blog post CEO pay jumped nearly 16% in 2020 CEO offers to forgo salary increases during the pandemic were largely symbolic. Salaries were stable, but many CEOs pocketed a windfall by cashing in stock options and obtaining vested stock awards. Read the blog post Thea Lee on international labor rights Former EPI president Thea Lee spoke with Politico about her agenda as newly appointed head of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs: "We're going to use the bully pulpit, we're going to use the trade commitments, and we're going to use our technical assistance to send a consistent message across the board about how we value workers' rights." Read the article Follow EPI on Instagram What we're reading Workers Should Have the Power to Say 'No' The job of the government is not to ensure a supply of workers at whatever wage rates businesses set. And workers' having the power to say no is not a policy problem that the government needs to solve. Read the article 'Breaking Point': Restaurant Workers Push Back Amid Unemployment Benefit Crackdown Across the U.S., restaurants have complained of a labor shortage. But the data, and many current and former restaurant employees, question the narrative that unemployment benefits are the cause. Read the article Share this newsletter: 'It's not a labor shortage, it's a wage shortage' Share Tweet Forward Donate to EPI Facebook Twitter epi.org View this email in your browser | Unsubscribe from this list