EPI in the news

• Let’s appreciate teachers for more than one week

  I understand salary isn’t everything. But it’s a lot if a young teacher is coming out of college with a $75,000 to $100,000 loan debt. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average starting salary for teachers is 73 cents for every dollar earned by other similarly degreed professions. This “teacher pay penalty” contributes to growing shortage of highly trained professionals willing to take a vow of poverty.   

  Bleeding Heartland (Iowa) | May 14, 2026
• Spanberger’s veto puts public sector workers’ union rights on hold

  The Economic Policy Institute calculated that Virginia’s public sector employees earn on average 26.7% less than their private sector counterparts with similar education and experience, the second-largest gap in the nation. The research also indicates that Virginia has the fourth-lowest public sector unionization rate in the country.

  El Tiempo Latino | May 14, 2026
• 2 South Carolina cities among best places to start career

  .. Economic Policy Institute. That has created a sense of urgency among younger workers to find places where they have a better chance of landing a job …

  The State | May 14, 2026
• US senators urge DOL to withdraw independent contractor rule proposal

  US Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and 19 of their Democratic colleagues wrote a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling, urging him to withdraw a recently proposed rule that they say would allow employers to misclassify employees as independent contractors.

  …

  The senators’ letter cited research from the Economic Policy Institute showing that a typical truck driver could lose up to $23,300 annually in income and benefits as a result of being misclassified as an independent contractor.

  “A misclassified construction worker could lose more than $20,000 a year and a misclassified home health aide could lose more than $10,000 a year,” they added.

  Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) | May 14, 2026
• ‘Legal uncertainty and financial risk’: Trump’s Gold Card visa isn’t worth it, say immigration lawyers — including Melania Trump’s

  The program bypasses the typical requirements of employment-based green cards by treating the financial contribution as a substitute for merit criteria. In practice, the Economic Policy Institute notes, this means routing Gold Card applicants through existing EB-1 and EB-2 visa categories, slots that Congress specifically set aside for people with “extraordinary” ability whose entry will “substantially benefit” the country (4).

  MoneyWise | May 14, 2026
• How old do Oklahoma kids have to be to stay home alone during summer?

  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 Oklahoma ranges from $10,790 to $12,468, depending on the children’s ages.

  The Oklahoman | May 14, 2026
• The Blueprint for a More Affordable America Already Exists

  When it comes to affordability, common efforts go to driving down prices alone, according to Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economy Policy Institute. But “affordability is the outcome of the race between incomes and prices. You want to make sure incomes are always ahead in that race and growing faster over time,” Bivens explained.

  But over the past 30 or 40 years, wages for the majority of Americans have lagged behind what the economy could’ve paid out, said Bivens, explaining that labor markets under capitalism are tilted toward employers. Policy must rebalance that. To start, Bivens said minimum wage has to rise consistently. The federal minimum wage is now effectively a joke, Bivens said, and though some states and cities have moved theirs ahead, it’s uneven.

  Next is ensuring unemployment remains low for long periods of time. While this might sound like stating the obvious, the benefits stretch beyond just making an income: Low unemployment rates increase worker negotiating power and maintain their value. Threatening to quit is one way workers have leverage, Bivens explained, but that disappears if the labor market isn’t really strong. A report from the Economic Policy Institute showed that in low-unemployment labor markets, workers who are historically marginalized or work low-wage jobs have faster wage growth; one example, the report notes, is that during the initial years of the pandemic, employers of low-wage workers had to work harder—and pay more—to retain them. At the same time, the report explained, expanded child tax credits, direct payments, and food assistance happening at that time also strengthened the labor market.

  Dame Magazine | May 14, 2026

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