The Department of Health and Human Services set the federal poverty threshold at $15,650 for a single-person household, meaning that in these 21 states, which are concentrated in the South, millions of full-time workers are earning below the poverty line. One in five workers with just one job in those states lives in poverty, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Latin Times
May 5, 2025
The pro-union Economic Policy Institute says the Trump administration has shut down 11 OSHA offices in states with higher workplace fatality rates. And the administration has effectively gotten rid of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which conducts workplace safety research that’s used by OSHA in policymaking, EPI’s overview shows.
Wis Business
May 5, 2025
We are among the most expensive states for child care, according to Visual Capitalist. Child care is considered affordable if it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income. According to the Economic Policy Institute, every family earning their area’s median income pays a bigger percentage than that.
Stamford Advocate
May 5, 2025
“Anyone that Trump appoints should be expected to rule for employers over workers,” said Margaret Poydock, a senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. “That completely destroys the independence of the agency, an agency that is meant to protect workers’ organizing and bargaining rights.”
The fight over the National Labor Relations Board, which raises fundamental questions about executive power, has received its fair share of media coverage. Other changes are easier to miss. In March, Trump rescinded an executive order issued by President Joe Biden that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour and was indexed to inflation, with the current minimum set at $17.75. The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the move had raised the wages for nearly 400,000 workers — a gain that Trump has now moved to erase.
Capital & Main
May 5, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) last week compiled a list of “100 ways Trump has hurt workers in his first 100 days,” which includes terminating grants to fight forced and child labor, nominating Crystal Casey to be general counsel at the National Labor Relations Board, and leaving the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service with what one employee recently toldCommon Dreams is “a very skeletal crew.”
Common Dreams
May 5, 2025
Paid sick leave benefits may boost employment, earnings for female workers, and the emotional connection people feel toward their job and the organization, a pair of recent studies cited by the independent, nonprofit Economic Policy Institute show.
In a blog post, the institute notes that access to job-protected paid sick leave allows workers to take time off to seek medical care, recover from illness or injury, or take care of an ailing family member.
Safety and Health Magazine
May 5, 2025
For example, a $25,000 per year family plan would increase by $600 if Trump’s proposed tariffs on prescription drugs happen, Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told The Hill.
“Not a total game-changer, but, given how expensive premiums already are, this is not small money,” Bivens said.
Consumer Affairs
May 5, 2025
Agricultural workers are essential to global food security, yet they often face significant challenges. A staggering 37-63% of agricultural workers experience food insecurity in various regions, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Many lack essential benefits: 50% are not covered by unemployment insurance, and 61% don’t receive employer-provided health insurance, as reported by the Economic Policy Institute.
FoodBev Media
May 5, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, has outlined the total amount of federal money each district receives.
“Today’s federal education aid is extremely well-targeted toward high-need districts, and even if the level of federal aid to states is maintained, it’s not clear that it would remain as well-targeted,” the authors of the analysis wrote.
WUSF
May 5, 2025
“It is so egregious in just how grossly concentrated the benefits of the [Missouri] proposal would go to the richest people in the state and shift the state’s tax system to really privilege the owners of wealth over people who are earning a regular paycheck,” said David Cooper, an analyst at the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute.
The institute advocates for progressive state taxes — those that put the proportionately largest tax burdens on the highest earners. While Cooper advises against eliminating state income taxes, he said the Missouri move would be more harmful than eliminating the income tax outright.
“If you’re wiping away the income tax altogether, there’s at least some tax benefit going to lower-earning folks who are still paying income taxes,” he said. “If you’re just eliminating capital gains income taxes, you are just giving away money to the wealthiest people in the state, period.”
Stateline
May 5, 2025