EPI in the news

• Older Americans’ workforce share nears 20-year low

  “I think the trends in employment for the over-55 population can be explained by the aging baby boomers,” said Elise Gould, director of health policy research at the Economic Policy Institute. “Simply put, the 55-plus population is getting older and employment rates decline with age.”

  S&P Global | January 23, 2025
• Wisconsin’s minimum wage lags behind neighbors

  About 30 states and dozens of cities have increased the effective minimum wage, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But federally, the minimum wage isn’t likely to rise over the next four years.

  WORT-FM | January 23, 2025
• Opinion

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, Indiana ranks 18th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care at $12,612 per year or $1,051 per month. Childcare for a 4-year-old costs $9,557 per year or $796 per month.

  Indianapolis Star | January 23, 2025
• The three richest Americans sat together at the Trump inauguration. Is that a problem?

  Theoretically, as leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency, Musk could push for budget cuts and regulatory changes that benefit his companies.  

  “You’re seeing it in the executive orders that roll out. You’re seeing it in the reshaping of the federal government,” said Celine McNicholas, director of policy and general counsel for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “It is not the way government is supposed to work.” 

  The concern, McNicholas said, is that Musk and other billionaire insiders might push Trump to adopt policies that help themselves and their companies, rather than the nation as a whole.

  The USA Today | January 23, 2025
• Trump ‘scraps’ birthright citizenship: Who will it affect?

  There are an estimated 600,000 immigrant workers in the US on H-1B visas, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

  Al Jazeera | January 23, 2025
• Laboring to survive, skilled nursing providers may not get union fix they seek

  It’s also left to be seen if Trump will quickly oust NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who the Economic Policy Institute has said is “arguably one of the most effective forces for workers in the Biden administration.”

  McKnight’s Senior Living | January 23, 2025
• Call Center Workers Continue Union Push After Biden Administration Drops Fight

  “What happened here was an unwillingness of HHS to muscle back [at] Maximus,” said Celine McNicholas, director of policy and government affairs at the Economic Policy Institute. “It’s a bad precedent and, frankly, a betrayal of that workforce not to have fought the fight — instead to be held hostage by this firm to the tune of $6 billion in taxpayer funding. It’s a failure over years.”

  Capital & Main | January 23, 2025

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