EPI in the news

• Could Your Family Live on One Income? What It Takes in Each State

  The rising cost of child care has prompted some families to reconsider whether two incomes still make financial sense or whether having one parent stay home could actually save money. For many households, the cost of care for one child can rival a monthly mortgage payment. According to the Economic Policy Institute, child care for one infant now costs more than public college tuition in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

  Kiplinger | March 9, 2026
• Budget Alert: Rochester is Now Outpricing the Metro Read More: Cost Of Living In Rochester Now Exceeds Twin Cities

  And when you factor in the latest costs, this story from Minnesota Now reports that Rochester tops the five biggest metro areas in the state for an average family of four, coming in with an average cost of living at $138,018– well over the $134,780 a family of four incurs in the Twin Cities, EPI data shows:

  1. Rochester metro: $138,018  (up from $126,858 in 2025 and $123,640 in 2024)
  2. Twin Cities metro: $134,789 (up from $127,391 in 2025 and $119,229 in 2024)
  3. St. Cloud metro: $123,747 (up from $117,247 in 2025 and $99,166 in 2024)
  4. Mankato metro: $112,330 (up from $105,867 in 2025 and $103,886 in 2024)
  5. Duluth metro: $107,757 (up from $103,625 in 2025 and $101,940 in 2024)
  KDHL Radio (Minnesota) | March 9, 2026
• U.S. Labor Market Reverses Course: February Payrolls Plunge by 92,000

  Sources:

  • Economic Policy Institute (EPI) – #JobsDay Analysis
  South Florida Reporter | March 9, 2026
• WA child care providers brace for subsidy cuts

  Nationally, only about 1 in 10 child care workers get retirement benefits, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

  Seattle Times | March 9, 2026
• Middle Class in Crisis Struggling to Afford Kids, Marriage, or a Car in the New Economy

  Think tanks like Brookings (widely viewed as centrist to liberal) and the Economic Policy Institute (widely viewed as liberal) argue that without coordinated action, the middle class will continue to erode—making affordability less about choices and more about structural barriers. Still, how to pay for those investments fuels sharp political debates.

  Investopedia | March 9, 2026
• The US economy has lost jobs since Trump’s “Liberation Day.” Fox is still celebrating his destructive import taxes.

  Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould noted that manufacturing employment has declined by 100,000 jobs since Trump took office, despite his repeated campaign promises to revitalize the American manufacturing sector, with those job losses accelerating since Trump promised last April that “jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.” Economic writer Joey Politano, meanwhile, displayed a graph showing 238,000 blue-collar job losses over the past year—employment sectors that Trump’s policies were purportedly intended to buoy.

  EPI President Heidi Shierholz summed it up as: “A SNAPSHOT OF TRUMP’S ECONOMY—judged by his own goals: manufacturing jobs are down 100,000 since Trump took office, private-sector job growth is the weakest we’ve seen outside a recession in more than 20 years, and the unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers has increased.” Shierholz’s last point refers to an obsession among the MAGA right about native-born employment that they consistently mislead about.

  Media Matters for America | March 9, 2026
• New data suggests living in Rochester may be more expensive than Twin Cities

  New data suggests that living in Rochester, Minnesota’s third-largest city, may now cost more than living in the Twin Cities.

  The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator measures affordability based on housing, food, childcare, transportation, health care, taxes and other necessities.

  It states, “Affordability is about whether most families earn enough to pay for decent shelter, food, high-quality childcare, transportation, health care, and life’s other necessities.”

  KTTC-TV (Minnesota) | March 9, 2026

More EPI in the news