School systems have encountered a similar shortage, tracking a 9.5% decrease in bus drivers from 2019 to 2025, according to the economic policy institute. The high average age and rate of retirement among bus drivers, combined with the often complicated process of obtaining necessary training and licensing to become a driver, are commonly cited as reasons for the shortage.
Cardinal News (VA)
May 1, 2026
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the immediate three decades after World War II, workers saw their hourly compensation in line with the country’s productivity growth. That’s because during the height of the Cold War — when employers offered employees pensions and union participation was at its peak — corporate America was incentivized to offer labor a larger share of the profits as a way to counteract communism. However, when the Soviet Union fell in the early 1990s, so did the motivation from domestic CEOs to share profits with workers. The split between capital and labor began measurably in 1970, and the gap has only increased since.
LA Times
May 1, 2026
CEOs are paid an average of 281 times more than the typical worker, according to a September 2025 report by the Economic Policy Institute, with CEOs taking home an average total of $22.98 million in 2024. That’s up from a ratio of 60 just three and a half decades ago.
CNBC
May 1, 2026
At the same time, wages aren’t keeping up. According to the Economic Policy Institute, from 1948 to 1973, a technology-fueled 97% jump in individual productivity was coupled with an inflation-adjusted 91.3% increase in average wages. Between 1973 and 2013, however, individual productivity increased by another 74% while average hourly compensation increased by just 9% once adjusted for inflation.
Time Magazine
May 1, 2026
Nurse and labor advocates argue that the current $17 minimum leaves workers struggling just to keep the lights on. “And to actually just meet your basic needs, you need to earn about $38 per hour. Today, we’re just asking for $30,” Nurse said in coverage of the proposal’s launch. Backers point to Economic Policy Institute modeling that projects roughly 1.68 million New Yorkers, about 36.7% of the city’s wage-earning workforce, would still be making less than $30 an hour by 2030 if nothing changes. EPI provides the analysis that supporters are leaning on.
Hoodline
April 30, 2026
A family of two with two kids in Miami-Dade County would need to make $120,900 annually to live a modest and adequate lifestyle, according to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute. For Broward County it estimates $124,800 and $127,260 for Palm Beach County.
WLRN
April 30, 2026
As of 2022, nearly 6 in 10 jobs paid less than $25 an hour, a separate BLS report from September 2024 found. Around 66 million U.S. workers, or around 45% of the workforce, earned less than $25 an hour in 2026, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-focused policy think tank.
CNBC
April 30, 2026
Public educators’ wages “have fallen further behind those of similarly educated college graduates in other professions, widening the teacher pay gap,” according to the National Education Association. The organization cited a report from the Economic Policy Institute that found teachers earned an average of 73.1 cents per dollar compared with people in similar professions in 2024.
Concord Monitor
April 30, 2026
Overtime pay: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 requires all eligible salaried employees to receive no less than time and a half for every hour worked above 40 in a week. This amendment to the FLSA from Casar would expand that minimum to double time. The higher wages would put limits on overworking employees, and there are other provisions in the legislation to safeguard against that as well. The caucus estimates that over 13 million workers would feel this benefit, supported in polling by 69 percent of the public. “True affordability comes when working people earn enough to cover the costs of living with dignity and security,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute.
American Prospect
April 30, 2026
Cites EPI & AFL-CIO letter to Congress [paywall].
Law360
April 30, 2026