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

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.

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.

An outline of Demos' approach to engaging across climate and equity issues, their respective fields, and partners working in the fields.

Quantifying the cost of climate change to millennials and their children, compared to a world without climate change.

NEW: SECOND EDITION. "Retiring in the Red" is part of the Borrowing to Make Ends Meet Briefing Paper Series. Reports an 89% average increase in credit card debt among America's seniors from 1992 to 2001. Key Findings:

This report reveals the extent of credit information “mission creep,” examines troubling shortcomings in the for-profit credit reporting industry, and recommends common sense steps to reform the credit reporting system.

In February and March 2012, Demos surveyed a nationally representative sample of 997 low- and middle-income American households who carried credit card debt for three months or more.

In the wake of the worst effects of the Great Recession, African Americans, like Americans as a whole, are getting their balance sheets in order and paying down credit card debt. But new research from Demos’ National Survey on Credit Card Debt of Low-and Middle-Income Households finds that African Americans face challenges to their financial security that are unlike those of white households.

Why employment credit checks constitute an illegitimate barrier to employment.

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.

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.