July 3, 2025

NEW ANALYSIS: High Teen Unemployment Tied to State Wage Hikes

The first week of July marks the height of summer, and it also brings a wave of minimum wage increases at the state and local level. For teenagers hoping to earn extra money before the school year begins, higher wages might seem appetizing. However, a new EPI analysis of Census…
June 27, 2025

Early Data Shows Chicago Tip Credit Elimination Is Not a Success

Earlier this week, anti-tip credit activists at One Fair Wage rallied with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to claim the city’s tip credit elimination law has been nothing but positive for the Windy City. Yet their claims – and report to match – use flawed and incomplete data to make that…
June 20, 2025

Why Your Neighborhood Mom-and-Pop Shops Pay the Price for Minimum Wage Increases

Sen. Josh Hawley recently proposed a bill that would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2026, arguing that if  “woke corporations…can afford to pay their CEOs millions, they can afford to pay working Americans a decent wage.” On paper, it’s a push for higher pay…
June 13, 2025

NEW DATA: California Among Top 5 States for Teen Unemployment

California has spent years enacting some of the most aggressive minimum wage increases in the nation. New labor data now suggests that these wage policies are starting to take a toll on the state’s youngest workers. In April 2025, California ranked among the top five states in unemployment rates as…
June 6, 2025

EPI Spotlights Best Data on DC’s Tip Credit Elimination Impacts During Hearing on Repeal

Ahead of a planned hearing on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s budget proposal to repeal Initiative 82 – the current law eliminating DC’s tip credit – DC’s Office of the Budget Director released a report claiming DC’s restaurant industry “remains healthy” under tip credit elimination. But the latest data show that isn’t…
May 30, 2025

Cuomo Should Take a Tip from New York’s History of Wage Hike Harm

Candidates, lawmakers, and activists alike are pushing New York to raise its minimum wage – but the Empire State’s history of wage hikes has slashed employment over the last decade. Lawmakers should learn the state’s history before proposing laws that would repeat the same consequences for businesses and their employees.
May 20, 2025

NEW DATA: CA Restaurant Workers Lost Nearly 2 Months of Work Annually After AB 1228

It’s no secret AB 1228 – California’s $20 fast food minimum wage law – has caused thousands of job losses and pushed restaurants to close or leave the state. Now, new analysis shows that even workers who kept their jobs after the new law still saw their scheduled hours shrink.
May 20, 2025

NEW DATA: Initiative 82 Slashed At Least $11.8 Million in Worker Earnings

One Fair Wage and supporters of Initiative 82 claimed tip credit elimination was necessary to create more “fair” and “stable” wages for the District’s tipped restaurant staff. Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows since Initiative 82 went into effect in May 2023, restaurant and bar workers have lost $11.8…
May 16, 2025

So-called “Practical” Minimum Wage Bill Would Punish Small Businesses

You may have thought Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $17 wage hike bill was bad news – just wait until you hear about the newest proposal by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA). In an announcement earlier this week, Rep. Fitzpatrick said he plans to introduce a…
May 9, 2025

D.C. Mayor Bowser Sides With Facts – and Local Workers – On Initiative 82 Repeal

In a press conference this week to unveil her new budget proposal, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called for a full repeal of the city’s tip credit elimination law, Initiative 82. In the presentation, the mayor called on facts, data, and restaurant experiences to explain how repealing the law would…