Search Demos.org

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.

Background on one of the landmark pieces of financial reform legislation associated with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

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. 

This Demos Explainer explores the tension between political support for deficit reduction versus job creation and economic security policies. 

This Explainer explores how the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is used in measuring our economic growth and whether alternative measures are also needed to provide a more comprehensive outlook of economic progress.  

The Volcker Rule is a requirement in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 that is sometimes referred to as a “mini-Glass-Steagall.” 

The working class today is much more complex and diverse than the white, male, manufacturing archetype often evoked in popular narratives.

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. 

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.

A number of states have laws demanding citizens produce documentary evidence of citizenship to register to vote. These laws have far-reaching implications for voter participation in our democracy.

Climate change poses a tremendous threat to Florida. Sea level rise, more intense precipitation, and stronger hurricanes increase the risk of natural disaster and imperil the state’s economy and its citizens’ safety.

Why, without swift and bold action to mitigate climate change, Nevada will grow more and more vulnerable to potentially severe economic impacts.

Arizona’s citizens and its economy are among America’s most vulnerable to the growing adverse impacts of climate change.

Climate change threatens serious harm to Virginia’s economy, its people and its treasured natural resources.

While GDP has been steadily increasing, indicating a growing economy, other metrics of progress show a very different picture.

Demos conducted a nationwide survey of low- and middle-income households in early 2012. The findings in this brief summarize the relationship between college costs and credit card debt, and its impact on students and their parents.

Fast food companies keep employees at poverty-level wages while reaping billions of dollars in profits. It drives inequality, slows growth, and lowers living standards.

How Walmart Can Invest in Its Workforce Without Costing Customers a Dime

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.

How past racial injustices are carried forward as wealth handed down across generations and reinforced by “color-blind” practices and policies.