A series of focus groups convened by the Urban Institute found that many people had no idea work reporting requirements were in place. Among those who did, many were not internet savvy and had tremendous difficulty navigating online portals. Many others lacked access to the internet. This is a pattern seen not just with Medicaid work requirements, but with work requirements for other programs like SNAP, the Economic Policy Institute found.
Idaho Statesman
March 3, 2025
In California and Washington, tipped employees get at least $16 an hour in wages. That’s because in those states and several others, there is no special tipped minimum wage — all employees get the regular minimum wage. Advocates like the Economic Policy Institute argue this is a better approach, since paying lower wages to tipped employees only reinforces the issues with tipping.
Denverite
March 3, 2025
According to new estimates from the Economic Policy Institute, on average, the bottom 40% of earners in every state would see an income reduction from Medicaid cuts, as they would not benefit enough from any extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to outweigh the value of the health care they lose. Instead, they’d be forced to pay out of pocket for medical care or go without necessary treatments.
Maine Morning Star
March 3, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the highest-paid employee at a co-op typically earns about $1.45 for every $1 earned by the lowest-paid employee. At traditional firms, that ratio is roughly 344-to-1 for the highest earners.
Philadelphia Citizen
March 3, 2025
Privatizing the Postal Service would hit homebound seniors, people in rural areas, and residents of low-income urban neighborhoods hardest, wrote Monique Morrissey of the Economic Policy Institute: “The corporations that stand to gain will do so not because they are more efficient than the Postal Service, but because they can shed public service obligations and pay their workers less.”
Provincetown Independent
March 3, 2025
In 2024, there were 48 million immigrants residing in the U.S. and working in fields ranging from construction, to nursing, to software development. As the native-born American population continues to age, welcoming new people to the country will be a vital component of continuing to grow the economy, according to a joint analysis by the Immigration Research Initiative and Economic Policy Institute.
Quartz
March 3, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute says 16.2 million American workers were represented by a union in 2023.
Business Insider
March 3, 2025
But intimidation from employers, including unlawful means of coercion and retaliation during union elections, can often serve as deterrents. A 2019 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, for instance, found that employers are charged with violating federal labor law in roughly 40 percent of union campaigns.
Orlando Weekly
March 3, 2025
Thousands of probationary federal workers have been laid off across the country. These employees have generally been at their jobs for less than two years and lack the civil service protections that shield other federal workers. Roughly 5%-6% of total government spending goes toward federal worker salaries, NPR reported, citing the Economic Policy Institute.
Planet Detroit
March 3, 2025
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) separately found that if the House GOP’s proposal for $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade becomes reality, it would “reduce incomes for the bottom 40% more than extending the [Trump tax cuts] would boost them — and the lowest-income households would fare the worst.”
Common Dreams
March 3, 2025