Everyone is talking about affordability — and making the same mistake.
Enjoy this conversation with Economic Policy Institute President, Heidi Shierholz; Director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, Valerie Wilson; and Chief Economist, Josh Bivens; moderated by Samantha Sanders, about what’s missing from the current debate!
Originally held Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Webinar links, notes and discussion
Timestamped themes, discussion, and resources mentioned in the webinar
Other affordability resources
The missing piece in the affordability debate: Higher paychecks
The federal minimum wage is officially a poverty wage in 2025
Holding the Line: Minimum wage state solutions to the U.S workers rights crisis
The impact of the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 factsheet
Listen on The State of Working America Podcast
If you are an academic, student, non-profit researcher or advocate, or a journalist, you may view and use the content of this webinar and its related materials without requesting any further permission.
This is permitted under a non-commercial use Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
.
If you are a commercial enterprise looking to this information or data in any product that will be sold or as part of services and data you provide to paying customers, request commercial use by contacting EPI.