Sources
Economic Policy Institute. The Productivity–Pay Gap
https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap
Glass Empires By W. A. Lawrence Substack
February 9, 2026
The report used the 50-30-20 budgeting rule, allocating 50% of income to necessities, 30% to “wants,” and 20% to savings. Researchers also used data from the Economic Policy Institute to come up with the amount of money to live comfortably.
KSAT-San Antonio
February 9, 2026
The Economic Policy Institute called for a nationwide $17 minimum wage back in 2023. Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a $20 per hour minimum wage proposal in 2024. But in 2025, the Pennsylvania House ultimately passed legislation that would have only raised the state minimum to at least $12 per hour in all counties, with select populous counties reaching $15.
TribLIVE
February 9, 2026
These policies harm everyone. They have created labor shortages in many states and industries. They have raised consumer prices for all Americans and are expected to reduce national GDP by more than 7 percent in future years, greater than the economic damage caused by the Great Recession. The Economic Policy Institute predicts that Trump’s goal of removing 4 million people from the country over the next four years would result in 2.6 million fewer jobs for U.S.-born workers.
The Hill
February 9, 2026
Higher productivity doesn’t always mean higher wages, however. Ever since the 1980s, wage growth has been held back by de-unionization and too much unemployment, said Ben Zipperer, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
“When there’s more people trying to find a job, that means employers don’t have to work as hard to find workers, and that puts downward pressure on hourly pay,” Zipperer said.
That’s why wage growth hasn’t kept up with productivity growth, he said. “Workers are almost producing twice as much as they used to produce, in real terms since 1980 or 1979, whereas hourly pay basically grew by only a third of that.”
Marketplace
February 9, 2026
A 2025 analysis from the (left-leaning, pro-labor) Economic Policy Institute found that if Trump succeeds in his goal of deporting 4 million people in four years, the number of direct care workers would shrink by 400,000.
The Bulwark
February 9, 2026
Since January 2025, overall women’s employment has fallen most in professional and business services, manufacturing and federal government, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Public News Service
February 9, 2026
With the Trump administration dismantling labor protections, getting to this point was an uphill battle. “I think their struggle has also illustrated some of the existing, very persistent flaws in our labor law system,” said Jennifer Sherer, who directs the Worker Power Project at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “The fact that it took, you know, almost two years from their organizing victory to the first contract … workers should never have to wait that long.”
Union workers, broadly, enjoy higher pay and better job protections than nonunion workers do, so it’s no surprise that the agreement will instantly improve the Volkswagen workers’ lives.
New Republic
February 9, 2026
The Economic Policy Institute’s Fact Sheet argues that the Trump administration’s push to expand access to alternative investments in 401(k) plans would weaken long-standing retirement safeguards and expose everyday savers to higher costs, greater risk, and less transparency.
EPI challenges the administration’s “democratizing access” rationale, noting that many large pension funds are actually pulling back from alternatives due to concerns over fees, illiquidity, valuation opacity, and underwhelming returns—suggesting the industry is seeking new investors as institutional demand wanes.
401K Specialist
February 9, 2026
70 percent of Americans approve of unions and a large majority of Americans have sided with unions in their recent strikes. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates that sixty million workers, about half of nonunion workers, would join a union today if they could.
Jacobin
February 9, 2026