Washington, DC, protest
Racism
Latino man and woman struggle to pay their monthly bills. They are calculating expenses versus budget income and are upset. Many invoices, laptop on living room coffee table. Children in kitchen background. Frustration among middle-class people. Imagery for home finances, recession
Affordability
A union organizer with a megaphone
Unions
'No tax on...'
We’ve been here before, and we know what comes next

The Black-white wage gap grew 30% between 1979 and 2024. Over the same period, the gap between worker productivity and worker pay grew 42%. These trends don’t just correlate—they move together, and history tells us why.

A new EPI analysis reveals the repeatable, centuries-old script white supremacists have used to roll back progress and concentrate wealth at the top. From the collapse of Reconstruction ushering in the Gilded Age to today’s federal dismantling—the pattern is clear.

Understanding it is the first step to interrupting it →

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The Trump administration’s macroeconomic agenda harms affordability and raises inequality

The Trump administration’s economic policies will exacerbate affordability problems by raising inequality and slowing income growth for typical families, according to a new Economic Policy Institute report. This will hold true even if it does not lead to recession (though its policy choices do raise the risk of recession) or spiking inflation in the near term.

The root of the affordability crunch is always and everywhere poor economic choices, including prioritizing the interests of the rich and corporations over the concerns of working families.

It doesn’t have to be this way →

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Workers' resolve drives unionization in 2025

Nearly a half a million more workers were represented by a union in 2025 compared with 2024. The number of unionized workers was the highest it has been in 16 years.

The increase demonstrates working people’s desire for greater agency in their workplaces and in shaping policies that affect their lives. In a time of fear, uncertainty, and hardship, the importance and benefits of unionization are especially clear.

Read more →

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'No tax on OT' FAQ

The 2025 Republican budget bill created a new, temporary federal income tax deduction for the premium portion of overtime pay. Trump and his administration have sold this policy as a substantial victory for workers.

It is not.

Overtime exists to discourage employers from overworking their employees. This policy will not benefit most workers and could harm them. There will be less pressure on employers to hire more staff and raise wages. All workers will be harmed by the budget bill’s massive cuts to health care, energy, and food assistance programs made to finance tax cuts for the ultrawealthy.

Everything you need to know about ‘no tax on overtime’ →

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