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Americans believe that hard work should be rewarded – people who go to work every day should not then be forced to raise their families in poverty. Yet today nearly a quarter of working adults in the U.S. are laboring at jobs that do not pay enough to support a family at a minimally acceptable level
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan
The manufacturing sector once offered a large supply of stable, middle-class jobs to American workers. Yet middle-income manufacturing jobs have been disappearing from the United States for the past 30 years. While technological innovation has played a much-recognized role in the erosion of the
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan
In 1935, with the passage of the Social Security Act, our national leaders made a promise to all citizens: after a lifetime of hard work, no older American would suffer from poverty in their old age. The passage of this landmark legislation was the embodiment of a deeply shared value: a dignified
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan
Investing in a skilled workforce is vital to America’s long-term economic growth and global competitiveness. Even as the Zero-16 Contract for Education proposed earlier would enable young people graduating from high school to pursue college or career training, the Career Opportunity Plan would
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan
Now that the Democratic Party has released their policy platform, we can compare what the two parties envision for the future. One huge point of difference is that the Democratic platform acknowledges climate change and the scientific backing for this claim. In contrast, the GOP openly mocked the
Blog
J. Mijin Cha
Personal debt can stand as an insurmountable obstacle to Americans wishing to build assets and secure a place in the middle class. In addition to the critical last resort of bankruptcy relief, Americans need fair rules to ensure that lenders – from credit card companies to mortgage lenders to
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan
The United States needs to be reimagined. A recent study from the Pew Research Center tells us that in economic terms the middle class "has suffered its worst decade in modern history." It's shrinking. With jobs scarce, wages declining and the nation's wealth concentrating ever more intensely at the
In the media
Bob Herbert
The good jobs deficit is larger now than it was in 2000. The deficit grew dramatically during the recession and, despite two years of growth, has continued to grow during the recovery.
Blog
Joseph Hines
Ronald Reagan's hologram may not have shown up to the Republican convention last night to extoll the virtues of draconian government cuts, but the anti-tax movement that launched his political career continues to strangle California's government. That's because the movement has continued to define
Blog
Joseph Hines
On Friday, the Census Bureau lost its director when Robert Groves stepped down to be Provost of Georgetown University.
Blog
Peter Wagner