EPI in the news

• Book Review: “Power and Progress”

  Acemoglu and Restrepo found that a narrow category of automation — industrial robots — was associated with decreased employment and wages. But as the Economic Policy Institute’s Larry Mishel and Josh Bivens noted, when Acemoglu and Restrepo measured the effect of workers’ “exposure to IT capital” in general — i.e., how much the employers invested in IT tech overall — they found either no effect or a positive effect on employment and wages. Here’s the relevant table from the 2020 version of the paper:

  Noah Smith Substack | July 17, 2026
• Tripling US union membership would shift $1.2tn to workers annually – report

  Tripling union membership in the US would lead to a 14.5% raise for the median US worker, shifting $1.2tn to workers annually and significantly narrowing racial wage gaps, according to a new report released on Wednesday.

  The report from the Economic Policy Institute notes that union membership rates across the workforce, also known as union density, was once three times as high as it is today. Union density in the 1950s was more than 30% before it started to decline in the 1960s. By the 1980s, union density dropped to 22.2% only to decline even further in recent decades, to 10% in 2025.

  Despite the lower union density, public approval of labor unions has remained high in recent years, with more than 68% of Americans viewing unions favorably in 2025. More than 50 million US workers would join a union if they could.

  The Guardian | July 17, 2026
• We’re in a Wage Crisis Too

  But raising the federal minimum wage isn’t the only way to raise wages across the board. On Wednesday, the progressive nonprofit Economic Policy Institute released a new report showing how increasing union membership in the U.S. would boost incomes for everyone.

  The unionization rate in the U.S. hit its historic high point, accounting for around 30 percent of private-sector workers, during the 1950s. Increasing union membership to that share today would raise wages for the median worker—all workers, not just union members—by $7,700 a year, shifting an estimated $1.2 trillion to workers annually overall. This would narrow the K-shaped pattern of economic growth we see now, where labor is earning a decreasing share of gross domestic product while CEOs get even richer. It would also decrease racial pay disparities affecting Black and Latino workers.

  New Republic | July 17, 2026
• If union membership were to triple, workers could get a 14.5% raise

  In 2025, the number of American workers represented by a union climbed to 16.5 million, the highest share of unionized workers in 16 years. During an era of declining union membership, this is no small feat. The number of workers who long to be part of a union, however, is far higher—more than 50 million.

  There’s a reason so many workers are clamoring for union representation. A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) argues that tripling union membership could radically change workers’ lives, ushering in the type of wage growth that helped foster a robust middle class in the 1950s. 

  “Right now, almost every conversation about affordability focuses entirely on prices, as if the only way to make life more affordable is to make things cheaper—but affordability depends on both prices and pay,” EPI President Heidi Shierholz said during a press conference Wednesday. “There is one institution that has consistently proven capable of raising pay, and that is unions.”

  If union membership increased to 30% of the labor force, the median worker could see a 14.5% raise, according to the EPI’s findings. That’s the equivalent of more than $7,700 per year, or nearly $270,000 over the course of a 35-year career. In total, this boost in unionization would put an additional $1.2 trillion in workers’ pockets annually. 

  Fast Company | July 17, 2026
• Union Density Is the Cause of and Solution to Our Problems

  Despite its importance, union density doesn’t get a lot of attention in mainstream political discourse. I’m always keeping an eye out for new UNION DENSITY FACTS. And this week we got some: a new report from the Economic Policy Institute that quantifies what would happen if we could triple union density—if we could once again make 30% of the work force union members, as they were in the mid-20th century.

  Among the findings of the report (bolding added):

  • “If we tripled union density from 10% to 30%, the real median wage for all workers (including both union and nonunion workers) would rise from $25.67 in 2025 to $29.39 per hour—a 14.5% increase. A full-time, full-year worker earning that wage would see annual pay rise by more than $7,700.”
  Hamilton Nolan Substack | July 17, 2026
• Local childcare providers in Bowling Green facing financial strains

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the annual cost of infant care in Kentucky is $730 a month. Their studies show that’s just 25.1 percent less than average rent.

  WNKY-TV (Kentucky) | July 17, 2026
• Young People Want to Leave Vermont Over Affordability Concerns, Poll Finds

  While Vermont has prioritized investments that have made childcare more affordable and accessible, wait lists remain common. And Vermont families still pay more than $1,000 a month for childcare, according to data released early last year by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

  Seven Days (Vermont) | July 17, 2026

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