“The economic struggles of typical U.S. families deserve serious solutions, not political buzzwords. Unfortunately, the policies the Trump administration has undertaken are making Americans’ economic struggles harder, not easier.” — Josh Bivens, chief economist, Economic Policy Institute
The Washington Informer
August 3, 2026
Using data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Economic Policy Institute, the site selected cities with reasonable living costs, easy healthcare access, and engaging community activities.
MoneyDigest
August 3, 2026
According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, the annual cost for infant care in Indiana is $14,471, more than $4,000 more than Michigan and more than $5,000 more than Kentucky. In the same index, Michigan ranks 24th and Kentucky 14th, indicating substantially less restrictive regulatory environments.
The Journal Gazette
August 3, 2026
A December 2024 study conducted by the American Institutes for Research identified a $4,600 per student gap between existing funding in Colorado and the funding “needed to provide students with an adequate education.” Additionally, a 2022 report from the Economic Policy Institute ranked Colorado 50th in teacher wage competitiveness.
Pueblo Chieftain
August 3, 2026
The average family in Lexington spends 20% of their annual income on transportation, typically costing the household over $1,000 a month, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Lexington Herald-Leader
August 3, 2026
Companies. American Association for Justice; American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations; Economic Policy Institute.
Law360
August 3, 2026
The policy shift favors wealthy Americans and corporations, according to the report from ITEP, a left-leaning think tank. And it tends to hurt lower-income Americans.
“People should be concerned about this,” said David Cooper, director of state policy and research at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. “It has certainly contributed to the skyrocketing inequality in our country.”
…
Cooper, of EPI, traces the anti-tax movement to the 2010 elections, which saw 20 state legislative chambers flip from Democratic to Republican control in a backlash against then-President Barack Obama.
Since then, in those states, “a centerpiece of Republican policy priorities has been cutting taxes, or shifting taxes to be more regressive,” Cooper said.
USA Today
August 3, 2026
Still, even in states with higher union membership rates, it’s not uncommon for employers that oppose their workers’ unionization efforts, like SeaWorld, to play hard-ball in response and dig their heels in.
“Currently, it is a common tactic for employers to slow-walk the bargaining process because there are no penalties for doing so, and delay frustrates workers and undermines their union,” the Economic Policy Institute explains.
Orlando Weekly
August 3, 2026
As the researchers note, workers are more split when it comes to their opinion of unions. Even with the uptick in organizing activity, unionized workers account for only a fraction of the overall workforce, with just 11.2% of workers represented by a union. But surveys show that unions have become more and more appealing to American workers; in 2025, more than 50 million people expressed a desire for a union at their company but were unable to get one.
It’s not hard to imagine why: A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute found that tripling union membership could significantly raise wages across the workforce, giving the median worker a 14.5% raise, or the equivalent of more than $7,700 per year. Over the course of a year, workers could stand to gain $1.2 trillion. For decades, worker productivity has far outpaced wage growth—a clear sign that workers don’t benefit from individual bargaining nearly as much as they might assume.
Fast Company
August 3, 2026
In August 2019, there were more than 223,000 US school bus drivers, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group; in August 2025, there were only 202,000, a 9.5% decrease.
The Guardian
August 3, 2026