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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

Interim Study to Examine the Issue of Election Day Registration: Testimony of Allegra Chapman

Demos Democracy Program Counsel Allegra Chapman's testimony before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature on the benefits of Same Day Registration.
Testimony and Public Comment

The Squeeze Is On: The Impact of the Recession on Young People

Even before the Great Recession of 2008, today's young adults were on track to have the dubious distinction of being the first generation in a century not likely to end up better off than their parents. Stagnant wages, job insecurity, the decline in employer sponsored health insurance and retirement
Policy Briefs
Jose Garcia
Algernon Austin

Declining Public Assistance Voter Registration and Welfare Reform: A Response

Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993 in order to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in federal elections. To help meet this goal, Section 7 of the NVRA requires state public assistance agencies to provide voter registration services to
Policy Briefs
Jonathan Nagler

Declining Public Assistance Voter Registration and Welfare Reform

In a recent report from the Heritage Center for Data Analysis (2008) titled Welfare Reform a Factor in Lower Voter Registration at Public Assistance Offices, authors Muhlhausen and Tyrrell argue that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)--passed in 1996 as part
Policy Briefs
Jonathan Nagler

Working Together to Strenghten Our Nation's Democracy: Ten Recommendations

Experts and advocates for strengthening democracy came together to create new momentum and plans for the critical work that must be done.

Policy Briefs
Brenda Wright
Archon Fung
Joe Goldman
Martha McCoy

Work Less, Study More & Succeed: How Financial Supports Can Improve Postsecondary Success

To increase postsecondary success among low- to moderate-income students, we must reform financial aid and provide additional financial supports to help students cover the cost of living expenses.

Research
Viany Orozco
Nancy K. Cauthen

Credit Card Debt: Preliminary Findings from Demos' Low- to Middle-Income Household Survey, 2008

Credit card debt continues to threaten the financial stability of many low- and middle-income families in the United States, hampering their ability to save and move up the economic ladder. When shortfalls arise, credit has been the only available safety net to help these families make ends meet. In
Policy Briefs
Jose Garcia

The Plastic Safety Net 2009: How Households are Coping in a Fragile Economy

Even before the downturn, millions of households were experiencing difficulties meeting the most basic expenses. Now, as families experience declining home values and tightened credit markets, many are falling behind on their mortgage and credit card payments.
Research
Tamara Draut
Jose Garcia

Port Trucking Down the Low Road: A Sad Story of Deregulation

Part of a Demos series of reports on deregulation showing that often the most significant impact is on the quality and reliability of work — in this case, on port trucking.

Research

A Voice for Workers: Expanding U.S. Capacity to Promote International Labor Standards and Enforce Trade Agreements

Over the past eight years, even as the U.S. signed a number of new bilateral trade pacts, the U.S. government actually decreased its capacity for promoting strong labor standards and enforcing the labor provisions of trade agreements. The Bush Administration sought to slash funding for the Bureau of
Policy Briefs
David Callahan
Cristina Vasile