TikTok's new generation of millionaires: 'I did it 100% on my own'

Friday’s bleak jobs report revealed that millions of Americans are still out of work, but some of the country’s richest people continue to accrue wealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

And one controversial social media platform — TikTok — has created a brand-new class of young millionaires who are becoming the breadwinners for their households. With one in three Americans on TikTok, according to the Chinese-owned app, it has become a clear winner for eyeballs and ad dollars even as lawmakers continue to criticize its security practices. READ MORE

Yahoo Finance Investor Paul Tudor Jones rejects 'false god' of low pay, calls on companies to pay living wages

The fight to close the growing wealth gap is “true social change” that has to begin in the private sector by raising worker wages, according to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones.

According to Jones, with the private economy total economic output at $20 trillion — compared to the federal government's $4.5 trillion in spending and private philanthropy's $400 billion — it makes the private sector the best place to tackle inequality. READ MORE

Biden set to push minimum wage hikes

President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is likely to push for raising the minimum wage at the federal and local levels next year through any means available.

Biden’s economic team includes several labor economists who are expected to push for increasing worker earnings through executive actions, federal legislation in Congress, and use of their bully pulpit to encourage state and local governments to raise their own minimum wages. READ MORE

SEC Proposes to Ease Restrictions on Compensatory Offerings to Employees, “Platform Workers” and Other Service Providers

the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed amendments that would ease restrictions on compensatory securities offerings to employees and other service providers under Rule 701 and Form S-8, both implemented under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). At the same time, the SEC also proposed a temporary five-year expansion of Rule 701 and Form S-8 eligibility for certain compensatory offerings to “platform” or “gig economy” workers. READ MORE

One-Percenter Wages Up 160% Since 1979; Bottom 90% See Boost of Just 26%

The redistribution of wage income to the top U.S. earners in 2019 continued a pattern that began in 1979. The top 1% of earners have seen wage income grow by just over 160% in the 40-year period while the bottom 90% of workers have experienced a gain of just 26% over the same period. For the top 0.1% of earners, wages have increased by more than 345% in the past 40 years. READ MORE

Coronavirus to put ‘massive’ pressure on wages, UN agency warns

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely exercise "massive downward pressure on wages in the near future," the International Labor Organization said in a report released on Wednesday.

Some of the impacts are already being felt: wages fell or wage growth slowed in the first six months of 2020 in two-thirds of countries surveyed, ILO found. The effects were disproportionately felt by women and the lower-paid, albeit they were somewhat mitigated by social safety nets. READ MORE

Wage inequality gets worse: Bottom 90% stuck in $30,000 range as top 0.1% take home way more than $1 million on average

Wages for the richest 1% in the U.S. have soared 160% over the past four decades while the share of wages for the bottom 90% has shrunk, according to new data from the Economic Policy Institute.

While there has been plenty of research on worsening economic inequality in the U.S., the new EPI analysis paints a clearer picture. READ MORE

Starbucks to Tie Executive Pay to Diversity Goals

Starbucks said it will tie executive pay to the success of its initiatives to increase diversity throughout the company.

The company has said it is aiming to increase the percentage of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to 30% at the corporate level by 2025. Within retail and manufacturing, it is aiming for 40% BIPOC representation. Currently, BIPOC employees are about 18.5% of executives at the level of senior vice president or higher. READ MORE

Is minimum wage increase good economic policy?

Economic hardships of minimum wage workers concern many Americans. Federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938 at $0.25 an hour. It covered 40% of the prevailing hourly rate and covered 50% of non-supervisory workers (Department of Labor). Congress, through a series of amendments since 1938, has increased federal minimum wage and finally ended up with the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour in 2009; that amount prevails today but only for covered workers. It does not cover, for example, tipped workers in industries such as leisure and hospitality. READ MORE

SEC Proposes Changes to Rule 701 and Form S-8

On November 24, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed changes to Rule 701 and Form S-8 under the Securities Act of 1933. While most of the initial attention has focused on the revisions that would allow equity compensation to be granted to “gig economy” workers, certain other revisions are broader in scope and apply to all private and public companies relying on Rule 701 or Form S-8 to grant equity compensation to service providers. READ MORE