Demos, in proud partnership with fellow racial equity organizations, released the following statement about the HUD's new fair housing rule:
"The Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) release of the final 'Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule' is a courageous and necessary step by President Obama and HUD Secretary Julián Castro to move our country past the artificial barriers that have divided us and toward a more inclusive and democratic society.
Demos Vice President of Policy and Research Tamara Draut issued the following statement:
"After two months of deliberations, hearings, and moving testimonies, the wage board created by Governor Cuomo voted yesterday to recommend a wage increase in a series of steps to $15 an hour by 2018 in New York City and by 2021 in the rest of the state. Fast-food workers’ decision to challenge their powerful corporate bosses was a huge risk—and it paid off.
Demos Senior Policy Analyst Amy Traub issued the following statement about the New York City credit checks bill that goes into effect today:
"Today, New York City will enact the nation’s strongest ban on employment credit checks. Demos applauds the Council and the Mayor—and all our coalition partners who worked hard over the years to make this victory possible. This bill will protect more workers than any previous one and virtually eliminates this illegitimate and discriminatory barrier to employment.
Despite its reputation as an antidote to inequality, the U.S. higher education system has reinforced and even exacerbated racial wealth inequality, by preventing many students of color from accessing college and loading black students with debt when they do attend.
Late Monday night, while protesting the recent police killing of Jamar Clark, a 24-year old Black man, in Minneapolis, 5 people were shot. They were just a block away from the Minneapolis Police Department’s 4th Precinct, where protesters have held daily demonstrations for the past nine days. Demos President Heather McGhee:
”Protesters represent the very best of our democracy and every candidate for president should denounce last night’s shooting in the strongest possible terms."
Today, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a pivotal case on union rights inFriedrichs v. California Teachers Association. If they decide on behalf of the plaintiffs, the justices would overturn a 1977 Supreme Court decision allowing public sector unions to collect fair share fees from all employees to help pay for the costs associated with collective bargaining.
Nearly 9 out of 10 working New Yorkers do not receive paid leave from their employers.
The call for paid family leave in New York is steadily growing. Just this morning, Governor Cuomo amended his paid family leave proposal to increase the payment for some of the state's lowest paid workers, and at this very moment, New Yorkers are gathering in Albany to call for a family leave insurance system that covers working people statewide.
(BOSTON, Mass.)- Today, a broad coalition of consumer, civil rights, labor, and community organizations issued a letter strongly urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support of H.R. 5282, the Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016, introduced today by Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Without protecting and expanding public pension systems, black retirees may lose much of the retirement security they have gained in the last 50 years, a new Demos report finds. The public sector has long been a strong source of employment for African Americans, with 21.2 percent of all black women and 15.4 percent of all black men working in the public sector.
In 2014, public pensions and Social Security together accounted for 57 percent of black retirees’ income compared to 49 percent for white retirees.
Every day, many U.S. families must make the impossible choice of falling into debt to pay for critical medical care or foregoing necessary treatment. In 2014, 64 million people were struggling with medical debt and it is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States.
Washington, DC – Less than a day after his first nominee for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his name due to unprecedented opposition from workers, legislators and advocates, President Donald Trump announced his new choice to run the Department of Labor, Alexander Acosta. Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, issued the follow statement:
New York, NY - With the House of Representatives poised to vote on H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, Amy Traub, Associate Director, Policy and Research at Demos, issued the following statement:
Data show pocketbook issues including minimum wage, debt-free college and infrastructure are top priorities for likely voters
Today, Demos, a leading progressive think tank released new polling data that identifies the economic priorities of progressives, working-class people of color, and working-class white Obama to Trump voters. The polling sheds light on the shared top priorities for these voters including revitalizing infrastructure, raising the minimum wage and debt-free college.
July 21, 2017 (New York, NY) – In honor of the sixth anniversary of the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Research, issued the following statement.