“These are folks who are serving [and] preparing food for all of the rest of us. It's a recipe for contagion when...the people preparing your food cannot afford to stay home when they have a contagious disease.”
Findings Show Skyrocketing Costs, Dwindling Savings, Stagnant Wages and Medical Debt Major Factors
New York, NY — As the recession continues to squeeze financially vulnerable American households, they are turning to credit cards to make ends meet, according to "The Plastic Safety Net: How Households are Coping in a Fragile Economy," a new report published today by Demos, a national research and policy center.
Washington, DC — As the United States Congress considers the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, which aims to establish national regulatory reforms for American ground transportation, a newly published study details the widespread failures of port trucking deregulation. Port Trucking Down the Low Road: A Sad Story of Deregulation, published by Demos, a national public policy research center
"To say that people post-crisis, as they try to rebuild their lives, have to carry the impact of this is just another round of disadvantage and discrimination.”
New York, NY — This week Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy research and advocacy center, is pleased to announce two significant staffing changes:
Tamara Draut has been named Vice President for Policy and Programs, joining Demos President Miles Rapoport in the executive leadership of the organization. Previously, she served for nearly eight years as Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, where she oversaw research, policy and advocacy efforts on issues related to economic security and mobility in America's households.
Twelve years after starting college, white men have paid off 44% of their student loan balances on average, while black men saw their balances grow by 11%, according to an analysis from Demos.
Twelve years after starting college, the white female borrower has paid off 72% of her loan balance. Over the same time period, the typical Black female borrower's balance has grown by 13%.
Initiative Aims to Strengthen Social Insurance, Promote Broadly Shared Prosperity, Set the Record Straight on Federal Spending
New York — Demos and The Century Foundation today launched an initiative to strengthen social insurance programs and develop a roadmap for a fair and responsible federal budget. The project gets underway as the White House prepares for its February 23 "Fiscal Responsibility Summit."
3 out of 4 senior households lack the economic security needed to sustain them through their lives, according to new study
New York, NY — Older Americans have experienced huge, negative financial shifts that now make it more difficult to enter retirement with sustainable economic security, a new study finds. Seventy-eight percent of all senior households are financially vulnerable when it comes to their ability to meet essential expenses and cover projected costs over their lifetimes.
If we are to survive this crisis—and imagine a more equitable, dynamic economy to come, we must start with a recommitment to the value of universal, inclusive public infrastructure.
New York, NY — The 2008 presidential campaign ended with a sharp moral debate about "spreading the wealth" in the United States. With national concern about a barrage of bad economic news--from the financial meltdown on Wall Street to the near-bankruptcy of the American auto-industry — which, coupled with bailouts and controversial tax plans proposed by the new Administration, have moved the issue of wealth distribution to the forefront of public debate.
“They collect our data without our permission. They profit from our data. They fail to invest in processes to verify accuracy. And their models are not transparent. This puts Black and Brown consumers at a serious disadvantage.”
The Biden administration should implement its public credit registry proposal to shift power away from an oligopoly that exercises inordinate control over consumers’ financial prospects and towards a fairer system that better respects consumers and reduces racial inequality.
Report Shows How Crisis Will Continue to Impact Small Business, Student Borrowers, Homeowners
New York — The household economy — especially small business, homeowners and student borrowers — will continue to suffer during a sever tightening of lending credit and capital, in spite of the federal rescue plan, according to a new report by the non-partisan public policy center Demos.