The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank created in 1986 to  include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions. EPI believes every working person deserves a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, and retirement security.  

To achieve this goal, EPI conducts research and analysis on the economic status of working America.  EPI proposes public policies that protect and improve the economic conditions of low- and middle-income workers and assesses policies with respect to how they affect those workers.

EPI’s research is cutting-edge, original, and reliable, and it spans a broad range of economic issues. EPI analyses are a trusted resource for policy makers, those in the media, national progressive advocacy organizations and state research organizations.  EPI conducts original research according to rigorous standards of objectivity and, as a result, is a reliable source of information and analysis.

In-house researchers maintain their standing in the academic community by publishing findings in prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals and by delivering public lectures, speeches, and testimony. EPI's methods for ensuring research methodologies are exemplary and include the use of highly qualified researchers and reviews by outside experts from across the ideological spectrum.