It’s not necessarily a consumer behavior problem but an income, access and tax subsidy problem, said Monique Morrissey, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank.
“It’s been a really terrible situation that we’re in (where) tax subsidies and employer benefits are not targeted … for the people who need them most,” Morrissey said.
With a smaller nest egg, many workers are opting to delay retirement and stay on the job, she said.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
October 19, 2026
According to the Pew Research Center, 19% of Americans aged 65 and older were employed in 2023 — nearly double the share in 1987. More recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data show the labor force participation rate for this age group remained about 19% in 2025. Their earning power has continued to grow: In 2025, full-time senior workers had median usual weekly earnings of $1,191, according to the BLS.
An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of 2025 data found median hourly wages of roughly $27 for men and $22 for women ages 65 and older.
Kiplinger
October 19, 2026
Raising two children to age 17 costs just over $700,000, Investopedia estimates, a 9.5% increase from 2025. That sum includes housing, food, transportation and taxes, along with childcare, as estimated by the Economic Policy Institute.
USA Today
October 19, 2026
South Dakota has joined 30 other states in having a statewide minimum wage above the federal rate of $7.25 per hour, The Economic Policy Institute reports.
The Sun
October 15, 2026
The figure of $374 million (or $1,520 per 1st Congressional District taxpayer) represents what the district would pay, and what is slated for ICE in Minnesota for the remainder of President Trump’s time in office in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” according to Minnesota AFL-CIO Communications Director Chris Shields.
Shields and the AFL-CIO gathered their data for presentation from the “Cost of Deportations Calculator” presented on the Economic Policy Institute website in partnership with the University of Oregon and the Institute for Policy Studies.
Mankato Free Press
October 15, 2026
Public companies must disclose executive compensation in the annual proxy statements they file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those filings also require a reported ratio between chief executive pay and median employee pay. That paper trail makes this one of the most thoroughly documented high-paying jobs in the U.S., and the Economic Policy Institute has drawn on public company disclosures for decades to track the widening gap between the two figures.
Quartz
October 15, 2026
Separately, the Economic Policy Institute said Minnesota taxpayers are contributing $4 billion in new funding for ICE enforcement. It noted the money could cover the cost of 15,000 teachers, 24,000 firefighters and other needs.
Public News Service
October 15, 2026
The Minnesota AFL-CIO brought a mobile billboard to Rochester Thursday that highlights the Economic Policy Institute’s estimate that mass deportations and ICE operations cost people in Southeast Minnesota.
Earlier this year, Axios reported the administration is slated to spend more than $268 billion on deportation efforts through 2029. Axios says those dollars include spending in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, budget reconciliation bills, general appropriations and other funds.
EPI’s calculator breaks down those dollars by state, and it’s estimated that the funding will cost Olmsted County residents nearly $133 million, or just over $2,000 per taxpayer. Across the region, it’s estimated to cost around $374 million, or $1,520 per taxpayer.
“Is this really where we want our resources going?” said Ren Olive, president of Minnesota Association of Professional Employees Local 2001.
Post Bulletin (Minnesota)
October 15, 2026
Visas like H1-B, have critics across ideological lines, including liberal think tanks like the Economic Policy Institute. But it’s the Republican Party currently, led by President Donald Trump, who have recently heavily scrutinized the program.
Texas Signal
October 15, 2026
Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, warned that the survey’s limited sample size means shifts for individual age groups between surveys may lack statistical significance, according to USA Today.
Quartz
October 15, 2026