Tipped workers are also susceptible to violence while doing their jobs. A 2024 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that sexual harassment was more likely to occur in states that pay a subminium wage. “The more dependent workers are on customers to pay their wages, the more they are forced to tolerate abusive behavior from customers,” writes economic analyst Nina Mast in the report. The report found almost three-quarters of women restaurant workers have experienced sexual harassment, more than any other industry, and women workers reliant on tips were harassed 20 percent more than nontipped women workers.
Chicago Reader
May 11, 2026
About 216,000 Oklahoma workers, or one-eighth of the state’s workforce, would benefit directly from SQ 832, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Another 141,700 workers could benefit indirectly through a ripple effect of wages at or just above the minimum wage.
Workers in the restaurant, retail and hotel industries would benefit the most from the policy change, according to the think tank’s analysis.
Public Radio Tulsa
May 11, 2026
Data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that a median-income family in every state exceeds the 7% childcare affordability threshold by 2 to 6 percentage points. For minimum-wage workers, the burden is even more severe—ranging from 29 to 108 percentage points.
Elise Gould, a senior economist at the EPI, began noticing a troubling shift in the data a decade ago.
“All of a sudden, childcare became more expensive than housing in a number of counties across the country,” she says. “It really surprised us.”
Today, her research shows that infant care costs more than in-state college tuition in 29 states and the District of Columbia.
Realtor.com
May 11, 2026
Meanwhile, the group continued, Florida ranks 41st nationwide in per-student funding and 50th in average teacher salaries, with more than 60% of education staff making less than $35,000 per year — well below the $63,853 living wage for a one-adult, one-child household, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Florida Politics
May 11, 2026
Bangor Daily News
May 11, 2026
The new federal rule reclassifies many agricultural jobs into lower pay categories. Daniel Costa with the Economic Policy Institute said the losses could add up quickly. “Both migrant farm workers on H-2A visas and U.S. farm workers combined are probably going to lose between 4.4 and 5.4 billion,” Costa said.
KQED
May 11, 2026
WBKO (Kentucky)
May 11, 2026
Misclassifying employees as independent contractors not only can cost workers tens of thousands of dollars in annual lost wages, but it can also hurt their fellow citizens, according to a recent Economic Policy Institute report.
EPI, which describes itself as “a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank,” analyzed 11 “commonly misclassified jobs,” including those in construction and trucking. It found that misclassification can cost truck drivers between $13,760 to $23,266 a year. For construction workers, the range is $13,186 to $20,399.
Safety and Health Magazine
May 11, 2026
As the Economic Policy Institute pointedly notes: “The results of the policy response to the pandemic proved that we purposely choose to tolerate a disproportionately high level of poverty for children of color in the United States.” Children are especially susceptible to the deleterious consequences of poverty – in terms of health, mental and physical development, and education – with ramifications that can easily extend into adulthood.
Moreover, children living in impoverished neighborhoods are faced with significant challenges, regardless of their family’s income; this includes schools that are insufficiently funded and inadequate access to healthcare. The fact is that child poverty and life in disadvantaged neighborhoods present an obstacle to medical care, which can carry “these health harms into adulthood and across generations.”
Augusta Free Press
May 11, 2026
In a Facebook post, Unite Here Local 7 cited an Economic Policy Institute study that said a living wage in neighboring Wicomico County is now $67,000 — far above what many Ocean Downs workers reported earning.
The Baltimore Sun
May 11, 2026