The financial pressure students feel locally mirrors broader economic trends. Inflation has cooled compared to its 2022 peak, according to the Economic Policy Institute, but wage growth for entry-level workers has not kept pace with the cost of living, particularly in housing.
WUFT public radio
April 13, 2026
Today the pattern is everywhere. CEO-to-worker compensation has gone from 21-to-1 in 1965 to 281-to-1 in 2024, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg
April 13, 2026
According to the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank focused on economic issues, the average cost of childcare in the state of California was nearly $22,000 per year. In states with a lower cost of living such as Alabama, it was nearly $8,000.
Al Jazeera
April 13, 2026
Other researchers were even more blunt in their assessments. A report by Economic Policy Institute found that most tipped workers wouldn’t see anywhere close to four figures.
“Most workers, including a large portion of tipped workers, will not benefit from this policy whatsoever,” left-leaning think tank concluded.
Money Magazine
April 13, 2026
The Economic Policy Institute has published an excellent report detailing how community benefits agreements can transform manufacturing jobs in the South from extractive, low-wage jobs into high-wage jobs that invest in the workforce.
The Pitch from Civic Ventures
April 13, 2026
But Phelps cited state statistics showing that 90,000 Louisiana workers earned $7.25 per hour or less in 2025.
Jan Moller of Invest in Louisiana said one in five workers would have received raises through Phelps’ bill directly or indirectly, quoting data from the Economic Policy Institute.
“People in Louisiana deserve a raise so life can be more affordable,” he said.
Shreveport Times
April 13, 2026
Last month, average hourly wage growth slowed to 3.5%, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
“We’ll definitely see elevated prices eating away at people’s paychecks,” Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told CNN.
CNN Business
April 13, 2026
A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank, estimated that, collectively, these policies will transfer between $4.4 and $5.4 billion a year from farmworkers to their employers. The United Farm Workers and other advocacy groups have sued, arguing that the pay cuts illegally penalize the few farmworkers who are U.S. citizens and work alongside H-2A workers.
Public News Service
April 13, 2026
A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that not all paid family and medical leave programs are created equal. Arkansas is much like its Southern neighbors when it comes to its medical leave strategy – they’ve taken the voluntary paid leave insurance route. The state legislature passed a law in 2023 – Act 84 allows certain insurers to offer family leave insurance.
KUAF Public Radio (Arkansas)
April 13, 2026
Politico Morning Money
April 13, 2026