Wage growth among African-American workers has taken a double hit since 1979 due to the growing black-white wage gap and overall wage stagnation, according to a new paper from the Economic Policy Institute.
The left-leaning think tank finds that median hourly wages for black workers “could be 87 percent higher in the absence of racial and class inequality.”
Researchers examined the 1979 to 2015 time period, during which “overall median wages did not track productivity growth and racial wage gaps did not close, but instead widened.”
“This kept wage growth for black workers much, much lower than it would have been otherwise,” the report adds.
New research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that African-American workers earn less than their white counterparts regardless of educational attainment. Progress Illinois looks at the report and gets reaction from the Chicago Urban League.
Racial wage gaps are wider today than in 1979 due largely to discrimination and growing income inequality, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute.
The average wage gap between black and white workers was 18.1 percent in 1979, with the gap widening to 26.7 percent in 2015, the left-leaning think tank reports.
Rutgers University economist William M. Rodgers III co-authored the report with Valerie Wilson, director of EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
“We’ve found that racial wage gaps are growing primarily due to discrimination — and other unmeasured and unobserved characteristics– along with rising inequality in general,” Rodgers said.
Poverty fell and median household income grew last year in Illinois, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. While experts were encouraged by the improvement, they cautioned that things are far from rosy in the Prairie State.
The Chicago Urban League released a 10-year blueprint Wednesday to undo structural racism in the city and create more equitable education, employment and economic development systems for African-American residents living in the most disadvantaged communities.
Chicago Urban League officials released the plan as the organization commemorates its 100th anniversary.
“Our vision is that by 2026, residents of every community area in Chicago will have access to the services and supports they need not just to succeed, but to really thrive as members of the greater Chicago community,” said Stephanie Schmitz Bechteler, vice president and executive director of the Chicago Urban League’s Research and Policy Center.
“The league’s 10-year plan is a focused effort that lays out our commitment to making racial equity a reality. When this happens, it sets the stage for a stronger African-American community and that, in turn, makes a stronger Chicago.”
CEOs at America’s largest firms received an average of $15.5 million in compensation last year, meaning they earned 276 times more than the typical worker in 2015, new research shows.
The $15.5 million in average CEO compensation was down about 5 percent from 2014, when the figure was $16.3 million, and up 46.5 percent since the economic recovery began in 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
“Most (83 percent) of the decline in CEO pay from 2014 to 2015 can be explained by the drop in the value of realized stock options in that period,” EPI’s report reads. “Therefore the decline in compensation does not reflect any structural change in how CEO compensation is set or changes in corporate governance. CEO compensation will likely resume its upward trajectory when the stock market resumes upward movement.”
Racial wage gaps are wider today than in 1979 due largely to discrimination and growing income inequality, according to 
The Chicago Urban League released 
CEOs at America’s largest firms received an average of $15.5 million in compensation last year, meaning they earned 276 times more than the typical worker in 2015, 