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From cutting-edge policy research to illuminating analysis, we bring a racial equity lens to the most pressing issues facing our country. For our latest blog posts and media updates, visit our Media page.

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Cover of 'Solving the Affordability Crisis' by People's Action and Dēmos: a rising staircase of icons representing groceries, health care, energy, housing, and child care, each topped with dollar bills."

Solving the Affordability Crisis

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.

Policy Briefs
Demos
People's Action
A Black care worker in scrubs reviews a clipboard with an older Black woman seated on a couch. In the background, composite images show caregivers working with children and supporting elderly adults, overlaid with illustrated icons representing justice, economic opportunity, and care.

Empowering Care Workers: The Key to a Better Care Economy

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.

Policy Briefs
Nick Wertsch
Row of empty voting booths in a school gym

Missing Voters: The Real Threat to Alabama's Democracy

More than 815,000 Alabamians are missing from the electoral process. In this report, Stand Up Mobile, Dēmos, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice examine who's missing, why, and what Alabama must do to fix it.

Research
Beverly Cooper
Dustin Tyler Broughton
Keshia Morris Desir
Jens Manuel Krogstad
Lucy Krueger
Sarah Ovaska

Lessons From the Detroit Bankruptcy

Introduction In March 2013, acting under a controversial statute that authorized extraordinary action, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to replace the elected government of Detroit. By July, the emergency manager had filed for bankruptcy of the city.

Research
Wallace C. Turbeville

What Is Our Public GDP? Valuing Government in the Twenty-First Century Economy

Why better measures of government output can help us grasp potentially damaging tradeoffs between fiscal austerity and collective needs.

Research
Lew Daly

Business As Usual: New Jersey Employers’ Experiences with Family Leave Insurance

Executive Summary 
Research
Sharon Lerner
Eileen Appelbaum

Letter on the Reauthorization of the HEA to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

The Honorable Thomas Richard Harkin Chairman Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee The Honorable Lamar Alexander Ranking Member Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Alexander:
Testimony and Public Comment
AFL-CIO
American Federation of Teachers
League of United Latin American Citizens
National Education Association
Service Employees International Union

Underwriting Good Jobs: How to Place Over 20 Million Americans on a Pathway to the Middle Class Using Federal Purchasing Power

This report presents new research on the scope of federally-supported employment in the private economy and shows how, using our over 1.3 trillion dollars in federal purchasing, the President of the United States can place over twenty million Americans on a pathway to the middle class.

Research
Robert Hiltonsmith
Lew Daly

A Higher Wage is Possible at Walmart (2014 Update)

In 2013, Walmart spent billions repurchasing shares of its own stock. It should have spent it raising wages.

Research
Catherine Ruetschlin
Amy Traub

Retail's Choice: How Raising Wages and Improving Schedules for Women in the Retail Industry Would Benefit America

Executive Summary Today, women make up nearly half of America’s workforce, and there is little question that their success in the economy is critical to the nation’s prosperity. Yet every day across America, millions of women go to work in low paying jobs that fail to move their families out of

Research
Amy Traub

Letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White Regarding the Dodd-Frank Act Pay Ratio Disclosure Mandate

More information about CEO-to-worker pay disparities is critical for investors.

Testimony and Public Comment
Heather C. McGhee
Catherine Ruetschlin

The Credit CARD Act

Signed into law on May 22, 2009, the Credit CARD Act has benefited millions of households in ways that directly affect their monthly budgets. Demos’ 2012 National Survey on Credit Card Debt of Low- and Middle-Income Households finds that the Credit CARD Act empowers Americans to take control of
Policy Briefs

Testimony of Amy Traub before the U.S. Senate on “Economic Security for Working Women”

Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander, and Members of the HELP Committee: I greatly appreciate this opportunity to speak to you about economic security for working women, particularly the experience of women in the retail industry. My name is Amy Traub and I am a senior policy analyst at Dēmos
Testimony and Public Comment
Amy Traub