In 2025, New Mexico became the first state in the country to implement universal child care—a historic milestone that shows what is possible when movements build power over the long term.
When governments use the power of the purse to create good jobs, workers, families, and communities benefit. Strong labor standards raise wages, improve job quality, and expand economic stability—helping build a more equitable economy for all.
Public banks keep public money working for the public. By giving communities control over how public dollars are invested, public banks can reduce costs, expand access to capital, strengthen local economies, and build long-term economic and political power for Black and brown communities.
When we tax extreme wealth and invest the revenue in public goods, we can reduce the racial wealth divide, foster economic security, strengthen democracy, and build a more prosperous economy for everyone.
Universal child care is a win for everyone, supporting economic well-being for families and children, as well as better working conditions for care workers. By investing in care today, we create generational opportunity.
A policy agenda for building a just, inclusive multiracial democracy and economy where everyone has the power to shape the rules that govern their lives.
The affordability crisis is the result of policy choices — and different choices can reverse it. This report from Dēmos and People's Action traces why housing, utilities, food, health care, and child care have become unaffordable, and five structural solutions for building a people-powered, racially just economy.
From high gas prices to unaffordable housing, families are struggling to make ends meet. The concentration of power in this country has sent our economy out of whack, but we know how to fix it.
Good care jobs are the foundation of a good care economy. Empowering care workers through better pay, stronger protections, and collective voice would improve care quality, reduce workforce shortages, and advance racial and economic equity.
Charged with both honoring Dēmos’ legacy and looking to the future, current president Taifa Smith Butler closes the Presidents’ Series by reflecting on the present moment and what it calls us to do.
From protesting outside a courthouse to shaping policy inside the White House, former Dēmos president Sabeel Rahman learned a defining lesson during his tenure: transformational change must begin with people power.
Former Dēmos president Heather McGhee reflects on how the organization grew from a small experiment in policy advocacy into something more distinctive: a multi-issue “think and do” tank.
What would a truly equitable tax code look like? Dēmos breaks down the congressional proposals that could shift resources away from billionaires and toward everyday people.
Black women are often the first to feel economic pressure and the last to recover. Their unemployment data is a clearer signal of economic health than any topline indicator.
In the second piece of the series, Dēmos co-founder David Callahan takes us back to the late 1990s—a moment that appeared prosperous on the surface yet held deeper warning signs.
