Per the Economic Policy Institute, childcare for one infant in the U.S. costs more than public college tuition in 38 states.
Fast Company
September 29, 2025
While some businesses and think tanks have advocated an expansion of the H-2B visa program, the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is arguing a much different fix to the U.S. labor squeeze.
“The H-2B visa program has ballooned without being fixed,” EPI stated in a new report. “Expanding it to year-round jobs like meatpacking would lower wages and revenue.”
Current H-2B employment, the EPI reported, is nearly 170,000 workers, approximately 2.5 times the original limit of 66,000. Indeed, to solve a 2022 labor crunch, the Biden administrations DHS approved an additional 20,000 H-2B visas.
Meating Place
September 29, 2025
In a 2020 report, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that 60% of the H-1B positions certified by U.S. Labor Department are assigned wages below the median for the job.
Associated Press
September 29, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute reports about 600,000 H-1B workers are employed by 50,000 U.S. companies. USCIS data shows roughly 70% of H-1B workers first came to America as international students.
WXYZ Detroit
September 29, 2025
Immigration expert Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute explains that this commission is not a good solution to the problems that exist with this visa. “There will be unintended consequences; there are better ways to fix the problems,” he says. Costa criticizes the fact that the current rules do not prevent lower wages in the sector for those who hold this visa, that employment consulting firms benefit, and that there is no real search for native workers to fill the positions. However, the fact that it has these and other flaws cannot be fixed with a price increase, he argues.
El Pais
September 29, 2025
Meanwhile, leaders on the left, like Bernie Sanders, have voiced concerns that the system is exploitative. A 2020 study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that most H-1B employers pay migrant workers less than market rate salaries. And on the right, leaders like Steve Bannon fear that the system takes jobs from Americans.
Time Magazine
September 29, 2025
The technology sector argues that the programme fills critical skill gaps. Critics counter that most H-1B employers do pay migrant workers less than market-rate salaries, according to a 2020 study by the Economic Policy Institute.
International Business Times
September 26, 2025
The issue is not new. In 2018, the Economic Policy Institute released a report citing research that showed a growing decline in teacher preparation program output:
Bucks County Beacon
September 26, 2025
According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, teachers are paid 26% less than other professionals with similar levels of education. Teachers were paid less than other college graduates in every state, with teacher pay gaps spanning from -10.0% in Rhode Island to -38.5% in Colorado. The relative teacher pay penalty was at least 25% in 20 states.
Counterpunch
September 26, 2025