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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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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
A collage showing a caregiver interacting with two children at a table. In the background, there are faded images of caregivers with elderly patients and a parent and their child. White outline icons of hands encircling a heart are overlayed on a blue and orange gradient background.

Recognizing Care as a Public Good

A stronger economy starts with a stronger care system. Treating care as public infrastructure would benefit care recipients, care workers, and caregivers alike, while strengthening the economy for all of us. 

Policy Briefs
Nick Wertsch
View of the top of the Supreme Court building at a distance

Amicus Brief in Trump v. Barbara

Dēmos submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara challenging the Trump Administration’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.

Testimony and Public Comment
Demos
The Campaign Legal Center
Common Cause

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

New Jersey’s Great Cost Shift How Higher Education Cuts Undermine the State’s Future Middle Class

New Jersey’s investment in higher education has decreased considerably over the past two decades, and its financial aid programs, though still some of the country’s most expansive, fail to reach many students with financial need.

Research
Mark Huelsman

Virginia’s Great Cost Shift: How Higher Education Cuts Undermine the State’s Future Middle Class

Virginia’s investment in higher education has decreased considerably over the past two decades, and its financial aid programs, though still some of the country’s most expansive, fail to reach many students with financial need.

Research
Mark Huelsman

The Debt Disparity: What Drives Credit Card Debt In America

What differentiates households that accumulate and carry balances on their credit cards from those that don’t have debt? Building on a national survey of 1,997 households, this study examines two groups of working age low- and middle-income households that are statistically indistinguishable in
Research
Amy Traub

Dollars and Sense: How Undisclosed Money and Post-McCutcheon Campaign Finance Will Affect the 2014 Election and Beyond

Chairman Schumer, Senator King, Ranking Member Roberts, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony for this hearing on the harm of secret political spending, the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, and solutions to address the
Testimony and Public Comment
Liz Kennedy