Economic Policy Institute

Methodological note As of 2022 Q2, EPI has updated its methodology for constructing state-level unemployment rates and ratios by race/ethnicity, with the goal of providing a more consistent set of states for analysis from quarter to quarter. The new methodology uses a longer time horizon of state-level unemployment data from the Current Population Survey (12 months vs.

This is an excerpt from an op-ed originally published at In These Times. Read the full piece here. Affordability—or the lack thereof—has dominated the recent political debate in the U.S. And for good reason. Across the country, too many families are struggling to make ends meet. However, almost every conversation about affordability focuses entirely on prices, as if the only way to make life more affordable is to make things cheaper.

Thirty states have passed a version of the CROWN Act to ban hair discrimination: Continued action needed more than ever as Trump administration abandons equity Key takeaways: The CROWN Act is legislation that protects students, workers, and housing applicants from race-based hair discrimination. 30 states have enacted some version of the CROWN Act, building momentum for a federal version to pass in Congress.

The Trump-Vance administration inherited a strong labor market with record employment and wage gains. But after a year of the administration’s economic mismanagement, workers are feeling more vulnerable to the softening labor market. While the president is busy touting the stock market’s performance, working people and families are expressing concerns about job security and affordability.

This week, EPI will release a new tool showing the cost of mass deportations to taxpayers in every U.S. city, county, and state. For the first time, the actual economic tradeoffs imposed on all taxpayers will be shown in one place. Below, we preview the data for Minnesota, a prominent target of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown earlier this year.

Our recent report asks a bold question: What would the United States look like if we tripled union membership? We find a range of economic and social benefits—such as higher wages, greater access to health insurance, and a stronger democracy. This post examines another social good generated by unions: strong investment in public education. Investment in public education was one of the key reasons the U.S. became the richest country in the world in the 20th century.

Over the past few years, EPI research has highlighted the broad economic and social benefits of investing more in public education. New York City legislators are currently considering one such investment: boosting pay for paraprofessionals in public education by $10,000 annually.

Download PDF Foreword Imagine union membership tripling in the United States. It may sound radical—if you’ve forgotten history. In fact, more than 1 in 3 private-sector workers belonged to a union in the 1950s. The results? Wages grew in tandem with the economy. The middle class thrived. Black-white wage gaps shrank. Broadly shared economic growth was a reality, not an aspiration. That’s because when workers have bargaining power, they win better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

A note about terminology Topics covered in this FAQ often involve specialized uses of language, reflecting both legally defined concepts and/ or “terms of art” typically used by practitioners. For definitions of key terms, check out the glossary at the end of this report. What is sectoral bargaining?

Child labor protections have existed for nearly a century but have come under attack in recent years. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) set guidelines for the hours and nonhazardous jobs for which employers could hire children under 16, guidelines that have for decades helped ensure that young teens could enter the workforce without jeopardizing their health or education.