EPI in the news

• Summer vacation is coming. What age can my child be left home alone in FL?

  Bouncing around from daycare to summer camps to relatives’ houses can easily add up. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of full-time child care in Florida ranges from $9,548 to $13,021, depending on the children’s ages.

  Palm Beach Post | May 7, 2026
• Plumas Voters Face a Decision on 1% Sales Tax Levy

  Data on annual budgets for Plumas County households from the Economic Policy Institute suggest that a 1% sales tax on applicable purchases could increase monthly expenses by about $4.00 for a single adult to $7.60 for a family of four. 

  The Mountain Messenger (California) | May 7, 2026
• Black Women Are Making Space For Joy, One LEGO® Brick At A Time

  In 2025, Black women’s employment rate fell to 55.7%, one of the highest one-year declines in the past 25 years, according to an Economic Policy Institute article.

  Essence | May 7, 2026
• We Need a Pulitzer for Substacks

  Two other superb Substacks on political economy topics are by Jared Bernstein and Adam Tooze. Bernstein, long at the Economic Policy Institute and then a senior economic adviser to Joe Biden, does a terrific job at unpacking the meaning of newly released statistics on inflation and unemployment, and reading the tea leaves of what’s occurring at the Fed. I write similar kinds of pieces, and I always learn from Jared.

  American Prospect | May 7, 2026
• Texas Teachers Start Strong, Then Get Left In The Dust On Pay

  Research tying compensation to retention backs up those concerns. Policy briefs from the Economic Policy Institute, along with academic studies, find that raising base teacher pay reduces turnover, particularly at high-need schools, and improves districts’ chances of keeping experienced educators in the classroom.

  Hoodline | May 7, 2026
• Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2026

  Heidi Shierholz
  Economic Policy Institute
  President

  Shierholz testified to Congress that while Trump inherited an exceptionally strong economy, his policies have been anti-worker— including the rollback of minimum-wage increases for federal contractors and cuts that slash benefits for vulnerable families to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

  Hometown: Ames, Iowa. First job: Detasseling corn. First app she checks in the morning: “Audible. I listen to young-adult novels in Spanish during my morning routine.”

  Adam Hersh
  Adam Hersh Consulting
  Principal

  After a four-year tenure with the Economic Policy Institute, Hersh now advises private clients, leading a group of 17 economists to assess the impact of President Trump’s trade policies.

  Washingtonian Magazine | May 7, 2026
• One Fair Wage: Separating fact from fiction

  Tipped workers are also susceptible to violence while doing their jobs. A 2024 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that sexual harassment was more likely to occur in states that pay a subminium wage. “The more dependent workers are on customers to pay their wages, the more they are forced to tolerate abusive behavior from customers,” writes economic analyst Nina Mast in the report. The report found almost three-quarters of women restaurant workers have experienced sexual harassment, more than any other industry, and women workers reliant on tips were harassed 20 percent more than nontipped women workers. 

  Chicago Reader | May 7, 2026

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