New York, NY — Homeowners have been tapping into their home equity to get the cash needed to pay down credit card debt incurred not for luxury expenses, but for basic needs. This strategy leaves them on precarious financial footing after two years of interest rate hikes and the largest drop in home prices in 35 years, according to House of Cards 2006 Update: Still Refinancing The American Dream, a report published today by Demos, a non-partisan public policy organization based in New York.
In the second piece of the series, Dēmos co-founder David Callahan takes us back to the late 1990s—a moment that appeared prosperous on the surface yet held deeper warning signs.
Former Dēmos president Heather McGhee reflects on how the organization grew from a small experiment in policy advocacy into something more distinctive: a multi-issue “think and do” tank.
From protesting outside a courthouse to shaping policy inside the White House, former Dēmos president Sabeel Rahman learned a defining lesson during his tenure: transformational change must begin with people power.
Charged with both honoring Dēmos’ legacy and looking to the future, current president Taifa Smith Butler closes the Presidents’ Series by reflecting on the present moment and what it calls us to do.
What would a truly equitable tax code look like? Dēmos breaks down the congressional proposals that could shift resources away from billionaires and toward everyday people.
Black women are often the first to feel economic pressure and the last to recover. Their unemployment data is a clearer signal of economic health than any topline indicator.
Good care jobs are the foundation of a good care economy. Empowering care workers through better pay, stronger protections, and collective voice would improve care quality, reduce workforce shortages, and advance racial and economic equity.
From high gas prices to unaffordable housing, families are struggling to make ends meet. The concentration of power in this country has sent our economy out of whack, but we know how to fix it.
The affordability crisis is the result of policy choices — and different choices can reverse it. This report from Dēmos and People's Action traces why housing, utilities, food, health care, and child care have become unaffordable, and five structural solutions for building a people-powered, racially just economy.
New York, NY — Economic Opportunity and a healthy democracy should be central focuses of America's political debate, according to a new policy briefing book published today by Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action, a national, non-partisan public policy, research and advocacy organization.
WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court today announced its decision in Randall v. Sorrell, a case addressing the constitutionality of Vermont's comprehensive campaign finance law, passed in 1997.
Stuart Comstock-Gay, Executive Director of the National Voting Rights Institute, which defended the law alongside the state of Vermont, had this statement on the decision.
With 25 million people still unable to find full-time jobs and unemployment insurance close to running out, it's shameful that Republicans in Congress waged ideological warfare over what is typically a pro forma exercise of the Congress.
New York, NY — Today, Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy organization that studies economic security issues in the United States, announced the launch of the new Around the Kitchen Table online. Published at www.aroundthekitchentable.org, this monthly news journal offers commentary, analysis and fresh perspectives on how national economic trends in debt, assets, education and income play out around the kitchen tables of individuals and families in America.
WASHINGTON DC-- In the wake of an austerity debt ceiling deal that will cost 1.8 million jobs in 2012 and do nothing to address inequality and the decline of the American middle class, today the Rebuild the Dream Campaign – with the support of partner organization Demos – announced a new Contract for the American Dream.
New York, NY — Today marks the release of a groundbreaking new book; STRAPPED: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead (Doubleday; On-Sale January 17, 2006), written by Tamara Draut, Economic Opportunity Director at Demos.
Washington, DC — American families are turning to credit cards to make ends meet in an increasingly volatile economy, according to The Plastic Safety Net: The Reality Behind Credit Card Debt in America, a new report released today by Demos and Center for Responsible Lending.
