Researchers from the Economic Policy Institute have since estimated H-2A workers could see their wages cut by somewhere between 26% and 32% each year. With the “downward pressure” those reduced wages for guest workers will place on domestic worker pay as well, U.S. farmworkers will likely see 9% reductions in pay. Combined, that’s an estimated $4.4 to $5.4 billion in wage cuts across all farmworkers.
Fresnoland
March 23, 2026
FRYING HIGHER — California should increase the $20 minimum wage for fast food workers to keep pace with inflation, argues a new paper by labor-aligned economists. The report from the Economic Policy Institute says the $20 wage — the result of a 2023 truce between fast food companies and labor unions — has improved earnings for workers and has not caused significant job loss. Now, Josh Bivens and Ben Zipperer write that the California Fast Food Council should prioritize a cost-of-living adjustment in 2026.
Politico California Playbook
March 23, 2026
The nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute has estimated the minimum wage for many farmworkers would fall to $13.70 an hour. Their average minimum wage last year was $17.43. California’s minimum wage is $16.90.
CalMatters
March 23, 2026
Black workers make up 18.6 percent of the federal workforce compared to 12.8 percent of civilian workers, according to Pew Research Center. Federal jobs have historically helped many Black Americans reach the middle class because government work offered stable pay, benefits and clear advancement opportunities, causing federal layoffs to hit Black workers especially hard, Economic Policy Institute researchers say.
The GW Hatchet
March 23, 2026
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2025, the employment rate for Black women decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 55.7 percent. The employment-to-population ratio for Black women with a bachelor’s degree dropped 3.5 percentage points over the past year, a larger decline than any other education group, including those without a college degree.
Afro News
March 23, 2026
More workers now live in states that pay $15 or more per hour than those at the $7.25 federal minimum, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Tukwila, Wash., has the highest overall minimum wage in the country at $21.65. In Los Angeles, the hourly floor for hotel workers at properties with more than 60 rooms is $22.50, a figure set to rise to $30 in July 2028. Now New York City is considering lifting the minimum at large businesses to $30 by 2030.
How it all affects the job market remains deeply unsettled. At the heart of the debate: Does raising the wage floor reduce employment by making labor more expensive?
Wall Street Journal
March 23, 2026
Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, and has been since 2009. According to a study by GOBankingRates, a person working 40 hours a week at minimum wage would pull just $15,080 a year, before taxes. Respectfully, I dare anyone claiming “tip fatigue” to try to live on this sum in the year 2026. As that same study reports, “The minimum wage’s purchasing power peaked in 1968 […] [and] If the minimum wage had kept pace with both inflation and productivity growth, the Economic Policy Institute estimates it would sit around $23 to $24 per hour today,” more than 3X the $7.25 per hour that folks are legally allowed to be paid by an employer in America.
Tasting Table
March 23, 2026
Filling in for Joan Esposito, Doris Davenport is joined by Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute to discuss wages/cost of living.
WCPT Radio (Chicago)
March 23, 2026
The earnings gap between men and women slightly widened last year, according to a new analysis published Thursday.
The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute calculated women last year earned 18.6% less than men per hour on average. That’s up slightly from 2024, when the wage gap narrowed slightly to 18%.
The wage analysis, which examines several federal data sets and independent research papers, controls for race, ethnicity, education, age, marital status and geography.
The findings were published ahead of Equal Pay Day on March 26, a symbolic date marking how far into 2026 women would have to work on top of their 2025 hours to match what men earned in 2025.
Stateline
March 23, 2026
During the markup, Democrats offered an amendment to exempt health plans from the bill, but it failed on a party line vote.
Scott also introduced into the record two letters arguing against the legislation—one from several former Department of Labor officials who worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations, and another from organizations including the Alliance of Retired Americans, Americans for Financial Reform, Committee for a Fiduciary Standard, Economic Policy Institute, National Committee to Protect and Preserve Social Security and Medicare, National Retiree Legislative Network, and Pension Rights Center.
401K Specialist
March 23, 2026