EPI in the news

• Report reveals how much families need to earn by state for one parent to stay home in 2026. How to make your budget work

  Another big reason that families consider dropping to one income is the cost of child care. In 38 states and Washington D.C., full-time child care costs more than public college tuition, according to the Economic Policy Institute (4).

  MoneyWise | February 5, 2026
• Save Social Security by first taking elderly poverty off the table

  Advocates such as the Economic Policy Institute describe Social Security as “by far the most effective antipoverty program in the United States.” Narrowly, this is correct: If Social Security were eliminated, Census Bureau research suggests about 10 million older Americans would fall into poverty. But Social Security won’t be eliminated. 

  The Hill | February 5, 2026
• What does it take to get to the Super Bowl? Well, either you’re playing, or it’ll cost about four months’ rent

   

  Local cost equivalents for a $6,773 Super Bowl ticket (national average price) | Average Work Hours (Based on monthly household income per city and the US national average hours worked *) | Average Rent Price in Each City

  *US national average of 34.2 hours worked per week, converted to monthly hours. | Local data comes from widely used public sources, including the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute, and Numbeo.

  Sherwood News | February 5, 2026
• The Dramatic Rise of Farm Labor Contractors Has Led to Rampant Abuses. Here’s Why Regulators Have Failed to Stop Them.

  One of the key ways to uncover abuses by labor contractors is for regulators to inspect the farms where their workers pick crops. Daniel Costa, an attorney and director of immigration with the think tank the Economic Policy Institute, said federal regulators have become so strapped for resources that they’re only inspecting a tiny fraction of farms each year.

  “When less than 1% of farm employers are investigated every year, they can act with impunity, knowing that there is a very low likelihood that they will ever be investigated,” Costa said. 

  ProPublica | February 5, 2026
• Houston Home Rebuilds Grind To A Halt As Construction Crews Dry Up

  National figures show immigrants are heavily represented in construction work, with roughly one in three workers in construction and extraction jobs born outside the United States. That helps explain why enforcement actions and policy uncertainty flow straight into longer rebuilding timelines, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

  Hoodline | February 5, 2026
• Hampton Roads mayors want Virginia localities to keep control over collective bargaining

  The bills could shrink Virginia’s public-sector pay gap, which is among the largest in the U.S., according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute; public employees in Virginia make more than 25% less than private-sector workers with similar schooling and backgrounds. The EPI’s report, published in January, found closing the pay gap could also lead to better public services, less turnover and improved racial and gender pay gaps.

  WHRO Public Radio (Virginia) | February 5, 2026
• Virginia Capital

  Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Commerce and Labor Committee advanced a bill to repeal the commonwealth’s ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers on an 8-6 party line vote. 

   

  The bill would result in over 500,000 workers getting the right to collectively bargain, including teachers, firefighters, home care workers, and campus workers. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published a report last month looking at how this legislation would benefit workers and Virginia more broadly. 

  “Data show that strong collective bargaining laws help states address persistent public-sector pay gaps, reduce staff vacancies and turnover, and lead to higher unionization rates,” EPI says. 

  Virginia Dogwood Newsletter | February 5, 2026

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