The rising cost of child care has prompted some families to reconsider whether two incomes still make financial sense or whether having one parent stay home could actually save money. For many households, the cost of care for one child can rival a monthly mortgage payment. According to the Economic Policy Institute, child care for one infant now costs more than public college tuition in 38 states and Washington, D.C.
Kiplinger
March 9, 2026
And when you factor in the latest costs, this story from Minnesota Now reports that Rochester tops the five biggest metro areas in the state for an average family of four, coming in with an average cost of living at $138,018– well over the $134,780 a family of four incurs in the Twin Cities, EPI data shows:
- Rochester metro: $138,018 (up from $126,858 in 2025 and $123,640 in 2024)
- Twin Cities metro: $134,789 (up from $127,391 in 2025 and $119,229 in 2024)
- St. Cloud metro: $123,747 (up from $117,247 in 2025 and $99,166 in 2024)
- Mankato metro: $112,330 (up from $105,867 in 2025 and $103,886 in 2024)
- Duluth metro: $107,757 (up from $103,625 in 2025 and $101,940 in 2024)
KDHL Radio (Minnesota)
March 9, 2026
South Florida Reporter
March 9, 2026
Nationally, only about 1 in 10 child care workers get retirement benefits, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Seattle Times
March 9, 2026
Think tanks like Brookings (widely viewed as centrist to liberal) and the Economic Policy Institute (widely viewed as liberal) argue that without coordinated action, the middle class will continue to erode—making affordability less about choices and more about structural barriers. Still, how to pay for those investments fuels sharp political debates.
Investopedia
March 9, 2026
Economic Policy Institute senior economist Elise Gould noted that manufacturing employment has declined by 100,000 jobs since Trump took office, despite his repeated campaign promises to revitalize the American manufacturing sector, with those job losses accelerating since Trump promised last April that “jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.” Economic writer Joey Politano, meanwhile, displayed a graph showing 238,000 blue-collar job losses over the past year—employment sectors that Trump’s policies were purportedly intended to buoy.
EPI President Heidi Shierholz summed it up as: “A SNAPSHOT OF TRUMP’S ECONOMY—judged by his own goals: manufacturing jobs are down 100,000 since Trump took office, private-sector job growth is the weakest we’ve seen outside a recession in more than 20 years, and the unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers has increased.” Shierholz’s last point refers to an obsession among the MAGA right about native-born employment that they consistently mislead about.
Media Matters for America
March 9, 2026
New data suggests that living in Rochester, Minnesota’s third-largest city, may now cost more than living in the Twin Cities.
The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator measures affordability based on housing, food, childcare, transportation, health care, taxes and other necessities.
It states, “Affordability is about whether most families earn enough to pay for decent shelter, food, high-quality childcare, transportation, health care, and life’s other necessities.”
KTTC-TV (Minnesota)
March 9, 2026
Lavender believes a $25 minimum wage is fair for Alabama.
Alabama’s current minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage, which, at $7.25, is below the poverty line even for a one-person household by about $600 a year, according to the think tank Economic Policy Institute.
But a $25 minimum wage won’t help if it’s raised and stays there, he said. It must be tied to the cost of living and reassessed regularly. Anyone working 40 hours a week should be able to afford basic essentials and a roof over their head, he said.
WVUA-TV (Alabama)
March 9, 2026
HEIDI SHIERHOLZ, PRESIDENT, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: That loss of 92,000 jobs? That’s big. I always though want to caution, don’t put too much weight on one month of data. But when you step back from this, the broad trend is bad.
If you look over the last three months, the average job growth was just 6,000 jobs a month. And if you look over the last nine months, five of those were negatives.
CNN International
March 9, 2026
Childcare can be really, really expensive: In Wisconsin, childcare for infants through 4-year-olds costs more, on average, than four-year public college tuition, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Parents often spend about 20% of their income per child on care, Pertl estimated.
Green Bay Press Gazette
March 9, 2026