Discover how state and local policies can effectively protect workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively. This brief examines approaches to worker protection through federal funding opportunities and provides real-world examples of successful policy implementation by workers and communities.
A successful union drive at a bus manufacturing company demonstrates how employers listen to their workers much better when their public funding is on the line.
Washington, DC — Today in the United States, the credit card market is measured on a scale of billions. The amount of debt owed on credit cards in 2005 was $800 billion; $30 billion is how much lenders profit each year. Under the guise of "democratization" the federal government has deregulated the industry over the past 30 years, eliminating caps on interest rates and penalties. Those who can least afford it are paying the price.
How stark racial disparities have long pervaded our financial services system, fueling and entrenching inequality, and why public banks are a transformative, equitable alternative.
Federal agencies spend nearly $760 billion annually on contractors, paid for by our tax dollars. The scale of their spending has the potential to reshape entire industries across our economy—to either create dignified jobs with living wages or reinforce poverty and exploitation.
Amid ongoing attacks on worker protections and enforcement, worker-driven social responsibility programs offer alternative, scalable pathways to building collective power for workers across industries.
While the longest shutdown in U.S. history leaves millions of Americans with missed paychecks and mounting bills, this piece explores why we must build wealth for all, especially for communities that have been historically kept from economic opportunity.
While the government shutdown left us without recent economic data, the rising Black unemployment rate reveals essential truths about the state of our economy.
Despite living in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, millions of Americans remain financially vulnerable, with stark racial disparities in who has enough emergency savings to weather even a brief crisis.
A strong economy cannot be measured by stock market performance; it must be assessed by everyday people’s ability to meet their basic needs and achieve economic security.
New York, NY — As health care costs continue to rise faster than incomes, families are turning to credit cards to pay for medical care, according to new research by Demos and the Access Project. The public policy groups published the findings today in a report entitled "Borrowing to Stay Healthy: How Credit Card Debt Is Related to Medical Expenses."
This report exposes the hidden labor crisis behind America's booming houseplant industry and makes the case for a worker-driven accountability model that has already delivered real improvements for workers in other industries.
The unemployment rate for Latina women reminds us that access to work alone is not enough. An economy that works for all requires not just jobs, but jobs that provide security, safety, and real opportunity.
If we want to build an economy that works for everyone, we must focus not only on how many jobs are created, but also on strengthening worker power and advancing policies that improve job quality—especially in undervalued sectors.
A stronger economy starts with a stronger care system. Treating care as public infrastructure would benefit care recipients, care workers, and caregivers alike, while strengthening the economy for all of us.
New York, NY — Homeowners have been tapping into their home equity to get the cash needed to pay down credit card debt incurred not for luxury expenses, but for basic needs. This strategy leaves them on precarious financial footing after two years of interest rate hikes and the largest drop in home prices in 35 years, according to House of Cards 2006 Update: Still Refinancing The American Dream, a report published today by Demos, a non-partisan public policy organization based in New York.
