Affordability has two sides—prices and pay. While public debate fixates on rising costs, the administration’s most serious harm has come from its policies that hold down wages and weaken workers’ bargaining power. The 47th president has pursued an agenda that undercuts incomes for all but the wealthiest households, slows job growth, and invites employer exploitation and abuse—including unprecedented attacks on federal workers’ collective bargaining rights that make him the biggest union buster in U.S. history. His policies have systematically stripped workers of leverage in the labor market, driving down pay and making it harder for working families to afford the basics.
While workers’ wages—particularly those of low-wage workers—saw sharp inflation-adjusted increases between 2019 and 2024, these gains fell far short of recouping the losses of the four prior decades.
www.epi.org
While workers’ wages—particularly those of low-wage workers—saw sharp inflation-adjusted increases between 2019 and 2024, these gains fell far short of recouping the losses of the four prior decades.
47 ways Trump has made life less affordable in the last year
In the first year of his second term, President Trump has actively made life less affordable for working people. Affordability has two sides—prices and pay. While public debate fixates on rising costs, the administration’s most serious harm has come from its policies that hold down wages and...
www.epi.org
