The lowest paid workers did considerably better, which is a predictable result of the tight labor market in the years following the reopening. The Economic Policy Institute found that workers at the 10th decile of the wage distribution had a real pay increase of 15 percent between 2019 and 2024, the fastest pace of wage growth for low-paid workers in more than half a century.
Counterpunch
March 23, 2026
MIRA Executive Director Elizabeth Sweet, who thanked immigrants in the room for their courage to attend, cited a study from the Economic Policy Institute that estimates a continued federal deportation agenda could lead to the loss of six million jobs nationwide and approximately 4% of the workforce in Massachusetts.
Metrowest Daily News (MA)
March 23, 2026
Research published in the Economics of Education Review in 2021, which looked at 12 states, found there were “statistically significant negative effects” on maths achievement among pupils on a four-day week when there was low time in school, particularly for boys and low-income pupils. However, those with middling or high time in school saw no significant effects on performance.
Hilary Wething, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said the policy was therefore ineffective. “This is a pretty suboptimal solution to a problem of teacher shortages, which itself are caused by lack of funding.”
Times of London
March 23, 2026
Since 2021, 30 states have proposed legislation that would roll back child labor protections and regulations, with 17 states enacting rollbacks.
“They don’t just want to weaken state standards. They also have this broader goal of eroding the federal standards and the weakening of the state standards is a stepping stone toward that goal,” said Nina Mast, policy and economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute.
“If federal standards are eroded, then they have nothing in place to protect minors from hazardous work, exploitative conditions, being overscheduled, all these types of violations that we’re already seeing across the country,” said Mast.
The Guardian
March 23, 2026
Researchers from the Economic Policy Institute have since estimated H-2A workers could see their wages cut by somewhere between 26% and 32% each year. With the “downward pressure” those reduced wages for guest workers will place on domestic worker pay as well, U.S. farmworkers will likely see 9% reductions in pay. Combined, that’s an estimated $4.4 to $5.4 billion in wage cuts across all farmworkers.
Fresnoland
March 23, 2026
…with 21,200 fewer school bus drivers, according to a 2025 Economic Policy Institutestudy. Hines said Tyler ISD is taking a proactive…[paywall].
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
March 18, 2026
While NEA’s membership base has decreased since 2022, AFT’s has risen by more than 100,000 members in the same time period.
In 2025, 14% of its payments went to political activities, with $500,000 going to the “Senate Majority Pac,” which is “dedicated to building a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.”
It also spent $250,000 on a “Democratic legislative campaign committee” and gave another $250,000 to the Economic Policy Institute.
Deseret News
March 18, 2026
A 2019 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found the state’s earlier minimum wage increases raised pay without a noticeable drop in employment.
A 2024 review of 88 studies by the Economic Policy Institute and the University of Massachusetts reached a similar conclusion.
When in Your State
March 18, 2026
And let’s talk about the teachers already in the trenches. They’re leaving in droves, and it’s not because they suddenly discovered a passion for interpretive dance. According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers earn about 27% less than their college-educated peers. That’s right, folks—after years of study, the reward for shaping young minds is a paycheck that feels more like a participation trophy than a salary.
Rogersville Review (Tennessee)
March 18, 2026
The average annual cost of child care for an infant in Indiana last year was $14,471, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute. That’s up 14.7% from 2024 and means the average yearly cost of child care is higher than the average cost of housing or college tuition.
Indiana Business Journal
March 18, 2026