As of July 1, 2024, 25 states have enacted legislation banning hair discrimination, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Legislation to ban hair discrimination based on race has also been introduced in Pennsylvania.
NPR
March 17, 2025
Valerie Rawlston Wilson, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy (PREE), notes that during a recession, the racial disparities are “amplified.” Wilson told theGrio, “The Black unemployment rate typically rises higher than any other group and takes longer to return to the pre-recession rate.”
Wilson, who is an economist explained, “A recession would not only undo the historically low rates of unemployment experienced by Black workers over the last two years; it would also undo recent progress toward reversing the 40-year trend of a growing racial wage gap.”
Thegrio.com
March 17, 2025
When a child is born, parents are told to start saving for college, if they can. But child care costs even more in California than in-state tuition, according to new data from the Economic Policy Institute.
LAist
March 17, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and other critics of eliminating federal taxes on tipped wages contend its bad policy.
The EPI said the eliminating the tax would:
- Help very few workers and undermine pay increases for many more.
- Expand the use of tipped work—a system rife with discrimination and worker abuse— potentially leading to consumers being asked to tip on virtually every purchase.
- Deplete state and federal budgets and create new avenues of tax avoidance, especially for high earners.
NC Newsline
March 17, 2025
The Rutgers report cites a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute that found state and federal authorities in the U.S. recovered $1.5 billion in unpaid wages between 2021 and 2023, according to Nevada Current.
“Wage theft is pervasive across all industries and income levels in the country, but workers who can least afford to bear the cost of lost earnings—particularly low-wage workers—are disproportionately vulnerable to wage violations,” the EPI study reported.
Nevada Current
March 17, 2025
Child care in Minnesota is among the most expensive in the nation, according to data released this month by the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.
The average annual cost of infant care in the state adds up to more than $22,000 annually, or almost $1,900 a month. Only DC and Massachusetts have higher infant care costs.
Minnesota Reformer
March 17, 2025
When a child is born, parents are told to start saving for college, if they can. But child care costs even more in California than in-state tuition, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.
Child care for an infant costs just under $22,000 a year, according to the analysis, compared with average in-state tuition of $8,786 annually for a four-year public college.
…
Elise Gould with the Economic Policy Institute said that reaching those levels will require more government intervention.
“There is not a market solution to this problem,” Gould said. “And that’s why we need public investments. We need better programs that we need the government to step in and help solve this affordability crisis.”
LAist
March 17, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute is out with a new study revealing annual childcare costs in Maryland surpassing college tuition rates.
In Maryland, the Median family income is $121,329.
The Economic Policy Institute found a year’s worth of childcare for a 4-year-old costs around $13,355.
WMAR-TV (Baltimore)
March 17, 2025
The retirement savings gap is perhaps the most stark—according to the Economic Policy Institute, white families have typically accumulated $120,000 more in retirement savings than Black families by retirement age. Many factors contribute to this gap, including lower access to employer-sponsored retirement plans and earlier withdrawals due to financial emergencies.
Essence
March 17, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute pointed out Monday that “since the creation of the PSLF program, more than 1 million borrowers have received student loan forgiveness, largely due to fixes made under the Biden administration.”
“More than 2 million individuals currently qualify for the PSLF program, according to the Department of Education,” the think tank added. “The executive order could potentially narrow which organizations qualify for the program.”
Common Dreams
March 17, 2025