Employment Policies Institute
| Abbreviation | EPI |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1991 |
| Type | Think tank |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., United States |
|
Revenue (2013)
|
$2,347,584 |
| Expenses (2013) | $2,131,002 |
| Website | http://epionline.org/ |
The Employment Policies Institute is a fiscally conservative non-profit American think tank that conducts research on employment issues such as minimum wage and health care. It was established in 1991 and has been described as "a nonprofit research group that studies issues of entry-level employment."
The charity evaluator Charity Navigator has issued a donor advisory concerning The Employment Policies Institute.
Employment Policies Institute should not be confused with the older, similarly named Economic Policy Institute, which is a liberal think tank advocating for low to moderate-income families in the United States.
The Employment Policies Institute has released a number of studies that look at the economic effects of policies (like the minimum wage, health care mandates, and employment tax credits) on low-wage labor markets. It also regularly analyzes job market data in the United States Typically, studies are contracted by university economists and published under its name.
In 2009, The Employment Policies Institute launched a campaign, Defeat The Debt, focusing on the national debt.
The Employment Policies Institute argues that increases to the minimum wage also increase unemployment among groups of workers like teens and less-educated and unskilled workers. Economists have varied views on the impact of minimum wage laws.
It weighed in when Princeton University professors David Card and Alan Krueger concluded that a 1992 minimum wage hike in New Jersey did not decrease employment in the state. Card and Krueger surveyed fast food employers in New Jersey before and after an April 1992 increase in the state minimum wage (from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour) and found a slight increase in employment. Critics of the analysis, including The Employment Policies Institute, noted that because Card and Krueger's research was based on informal headcounts acquired through telephone surveys, it could not be easily replicated. Subsequent analysis of these restaurants' payroll data records found that employment actually decreased by 4.6 percent after the minimum wage hike, and The Employment Policies Institute's findings were later verified by independent economists. This result would mean that the total amount of wages paid to minimum wage employees in the fast food industry in New Jersey increased 13.4 percent as a result of the increase in the minimum wage (employment declined 4.6 percent, but the minimum wage increased 18.8 percent, for a total change in wages paid of 13.4 percent).
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