The reckoning comes as the U.S. Department of Labor issued a rule to make it cheaper for employers to hire seasonal foreign agricultural workers through H-2A visas — a policy the Economic Policy Institute estimates could drive down wages for farmworkers nationwide by more than $4.4 billion annually.
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The UFW continues to fight well-resourced grower associations, sometimes successfully, said Daniel Costa, who directs immigration policy at the Economic Policy Institute and co-authored the H-2A wage rule analysis. The UFW helped beat a similar pay-cut policy during the first Trump administration, he added, which helped hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers.
“They are punching above their weight for sure,” Costa said. “They’ve been able to leverage the attention that they’ve gotten over the years to really make a big impact.”
KQED
April 6, 2026
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, waves of automation and digital transformation have added more than 70 million net new jobs to the U.S. economy since 1980. Yet productivity has grown 2.7 times more than average compensation (wages and benefits) for production and nonsupervisory workers since 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This group represents roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce.
Time Magazine
April 6, 2026
But women still earn less in the workplace. The gender gap narrowed slightly in recent years but widened again in 2025, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Controlling for socioeconomic factors, women earned 18.6% less than men.
USA Today
April 6, 2026
Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute said job-wise, he’s most concerned right now about people who work in industries fueled by discretionary spending.
“Obvious ones are like restaurants, arts, entertainment, some travel,” he said. “That’s where people have the most ability to quickly adjust their spending, and those are also industries that are pretty quick to lay people off as soon as that spending dries up a little bit.”
Marketplace
April 6, 2026
Real wages declined 0.3% for low-income workers last year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a reversal from post-pandemic trends when low- and …
Fortune
April 6, 2026
The U.S. Senate business report also found that job creation is being impacted, citing an Economic Policy Institute paper which found that, if the administration reached its 4 million deportation goal, there would be 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants and 2.6 million fewer employed U.S. citizens.
New Bedford Light (Massachusetts)
April 6, 2026
To that point, a 2024 Economic Policy Institute Report, “The Rise of the ‘Union Curious,’ ” delved into data collected by the Worker Empowerment Research Network and found that 45% of workers under 30 are “union curious,” meaning they don’t necessarily favor or oppose unions, but they are open to considering third-party representation.
SHRM
April 6, 2026
Similarly, a 2025 Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report found that childcare for one infant is more expensive than public college tuition in 38 states.
“Childcare is unaffordable for working families everywhere in the country, and it’s even more unattainable for minimum-wage workers and the very workers that administer childcare,” EPI research assistant Katherine deCourcy said in a press release. “This isn’t inevitable—it is a policy choice. Federal and state policymakers can and should act to make childcare more affordable, and ensure that childcare workers can afford the same quality of care for their own children.”
Fast Company
April 6, 2026
A recent Economic Policy Institute report found that achieving historically normal rates of economic growth will be nearly impossible without sustained … [paywall].
Barron’s
April 6, 2026
The cost of infant care in Indiana is $1,206 per month, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. Foster families get a $28 per day base rate to take an infant.
WFYI
April 6, 2026