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
A report from the Economic Policy Institute found that Florida has the highest minimum wage violation rate of the 10 most populous states in the country, and research indicates that as the minimum wage goes up, so too do employer violations.
Orlando Weekly
September 26, 2025
Some of that abuse was documented in a 2021 study by the Economic Policy Institute, which uncovered widespread wage theft by an India-based outsourcing firm, one of the industry’s largest. The “blatant lawbreaking” was enabled by loopholes and lax enforcement, says the report.
Christian Science Monitor
September 26, 2025
A 2020 report from the Economic Policy Institute shows a majority of H-1B employers pay below market wages. It specifically points at major tech firms.
NBC Connecticut
September 26, 2025
This comes as the cost of childcare continues to skyrocket nationwide. The Economic Policy Institute put together a report on this and they found that child care for one infant now costs more than rent in 17 states and more than in-state college tuition in 38 states.
WCTI News 12
September 26, 2025
Adjusted for factors like inflation, age, and location, teachers make on average 26.9% less than other full-time workers with similar levels of education, according to a new paper from the Economic Policy Institute and Center for Economic and Policy Research. The average weekly wages for a teacher were $1,447 last year, the paper found, nearly $1,000 below the $2,361 average for other college graduates, compared to 1996, when the inflation-adjusted gap was just under $300.
Investopedia
September 26, 2025
Employer usage of the H-2B temporary visa program has grown dramatically in recent years, despite inadequate protections for workers and rules undercutting U.S. wage standards, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). EPI encouraged policymakers to pursue a high-road employment strategy in which workers have full labor and workplace rights accompanied by lawful permanent resident status, which would raise wages and spur investment.
Vital Law
September 26, 2025
Last week, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation declaring a requirement that employers pay a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas. The announcement has created considerable outcry from employers, reflecting H-1B’s status as the country’s biggest work visa program and an important pathway for U.S. employers to hire skilled talent from abroad. To my surprise, Trump’s proclamation seemed to cite a study that I co-authored for the Economic Policy Institute, showing how some employers have taken advantage of the visa to underpay college-educated employees.
It’s true that the H-1B program is deeply flawed. But the $100,000 fee on employers won’t fix what’s wrong with the program and could have unintended consequences. Large firms and those that already pay lower wages will have less difficulty paying the fee, while startups and smaller firms that offer fair or above-market wages will struggle to pay it. Rather than the administration’s misguided and poorly implemented idea, there are much better ways to protect workers, whether they are H-1B employees or U.S.-born workers or green card holders already employed in the United States.
MSNBC.com
September 26, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute identifies 100 specific actions by the Trump administration (in the first 100 days) that “threaten to slow wage growth while also raising prices, constraining workers’ purchasing power.” Their report concludes that from, “attacks on workers’ rights to his chaotic implementation of historically high tariffs, and his dismantling of critical federal agencies and programs…Trump’s actions have left workers with fewer rights and have put the U.S. economy on a path toward an almost certain recession” (“100 ways Trump has hurt workers in his first 100 days, April 25, 2025).
Duluth Reader
September 25, 2025