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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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The U.S. Supreme Court building against a blue sky, overlaid with a map of Louisiana and a chain of "I Voted" sticker footprints being cut by scissors on either side

Voting Rights and Representation in the Aftermath of Louisiana v. Callais

This brief examines what the Supreme Court's Callais decision means for communities of color, what has already changed in its wake, and what reforms — from state voting rights acts to proportional representation — can meet this moment.

Policy Briefs
Angelo Ancheta
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

The Contract For College

Widely shared middle-class prosperity has made the United States the most hopeful and dynamic country on earth. 

Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan

Public Jobs For Economic Recovery

More than two years after the recession officially ended, 25 million Americans – 16 percent of the labor force – are still out of work or underemployed.1 There are more than four jobseekers for every job opening. 6.2 million people have been out of work for more than six months. While the economic
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan

Raise Work Standards

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

American Retirement Accounts

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

Borrower Security Act

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 American Family Trust

Provide 12 weeks of paid benefits to employees who need time off work to care for a new child, a sick family member, or their own illness. The self-financing trust is funded by premiums paid equally by employers and employees.

Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan

Early Care And Education Plan

Give states additional Child Care and Development Block Grant funding to double the number of children served by child care assistance, make the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable, and expand Head Start and Early Head Start.

Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan

Public Investment Plan

Sustaining a strong middle class – and a strong and competitive American economy – over the long term requires a foundation of robust public investment.
Policy Briefs
Amy Traub
Tamara Draut
David Callahan

Level The Playing Field For American Manufacturing

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

The Career Opportunity Plan

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