This report presents findings on the use of public transit by people of color and on the potential jobs benefits that people of color can gain from investments in public transit.
Methodology: Demos sponsored an online survey among 1,536 registered voters, conducted June 5 to June 14, 2017. The research included a base sample of registered voters and, for deeper analysis, oversamples of working-class African Americans, working-class Hispanics, working-class white Obama-to-Trump voters, and progressives, defined as people of all races who identify as extremely or somewhat liberal. The data in this survey is weighted by standard weights to make it fully representative.
Medical debt is a leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. This report analyzes the impact of medical debt on household finances and provides policy solutions.
If nearly 70 percent of graduates are borrowing, 30 percent (including 35 percent of public college graduates) are not. Who are these students? What type of family or financial resources do they have at their disposal? What are their work habits? In short, what does it take to graduate debt-free these days? This brief answers these questions.
If the twin threats to public pensions continue, African American retirees may lose much of the retirement security they’ve gained over the past half-century.
Public policies can either fuel or ease racial disparities in wealth. This report marks the first-ever systematic analysis of the impact of different policies, highlighting the policies that could help erase the racial wealth gap.
This report examines the effectiveness of the employment credit check laws enacted so far and finds that unjustified exemptions included in the laws, a failure to pursue enforcement, and a lack of public outreach have prevented these important employment protections from being as effective as they could be.
The Financial Infrastructure Exchange (FIX) is a federal tax-and-subsidy program to promote long-term investment in a financial system that otherwise prioritizes short-term gains.
Walmart's raises to $9 an hour in 2015 and then to $10 an hour in 2016 is a positive step forward, but it still falls short of giving workers the wages they need.
Why a return to a debt-free system of public universities and colleges would help revive the promise of affordable higher education regardless of one’s family income.
The dominance of big money in our politics makes it far harder for people of color to exert political power and effectively advocate for their interests as both wealth and power are consolidated by a small, very white, share of the population.