Inequality is the common thread connecting every issue we work on at Demos, and challenging the public narrative about that inequality is essential to our work to solve it. This year, we’re proud to have an ally in that fight in the entire team behind the upcoming television documentary series America Divided, premiering this fall on EPIX.
Now more than ever, our progressive movement needs real leaders who are equipped with the skills, fortitude, and vision to meet the political and economic challenges we face as a nation. For nearly four decades, the United States Student Association (USSA) has fostered this leadership.
Lobbyists are often frowned upon for doing the bidding of major corporations. A list of the organizations that spend the most on lobbying, maintained by the websiteOpenSecrets.org, is full of corporations like Boeing, General Electric, and AT&T, as well as associations like the National Association of Realtors.
If you’re feeling underpaid and overworked, you probably are: wages for typical U.S. workers still haven’t recovered from the Great Recession, even as working Americans continue to put in long hours. But a long-awaited update to the federal rules on overtime pay may finally bring relief.
Millions more workers could soon be making more money thanks to overtime changes the Obama administration announced today.
Starting December 1, the regulations being issued by the Labor Department would double the threshold under which salaried workers must be paid overtime, from to $47,476 from $23,660.
This rule is part of the patchwork of changes on the national, state, and even municipal level to raise wages for workers that have small businesses and large corporations figuring out how to balance the books, by either cutting workers or raising prices.
It’s not every day that low-paid workers — cleaners mopping the floors of Washington’s Union Station, vendors selling pretzels at the National Zoo, servers dishing out hot lunch at congressional cafeterias — speak out and win a voice in setting national policy. Yet three years ago, that’s exactly what began to happen.
In May 2013, workers employed by private companies under contract with the federal government came together to form Good Jobs Nation – and walked out on strike in the nation’s capital.
Today, the working class are most likely to work as caregivers, retail workers, cashiers, fast food workers, and janitors. How are the working class movements such as “Fight for $15” minimum wage shifting the political and economic landscape? Join the conversation, on the next Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.
Some 63 percent of white students who graduate from public four-year colleges and universities borrow to do so, but 81 percent of black graduates go that route, according to a study of student debt by Demos, a public policy research organization. When it comes to associate's degrees, 57 percent of black students borrow, versus 43 percent of whites — and the black students borrow an average of $2,000 more.
Each year, Demos recognizes leaders who are transforming America. From #BlackLivesMatter to Amy Poehler to Rashad Robinson, we have honored the people, organizations, and movements that are challenging our country to live up to the true meaning of democracy: a place where all Americans have an equal say and an equal chance.
Automatic Voter Registration (AVR)—meaning voter registration that occurs without a proactive effort by individual citizens—has caught fire. Here are three major factors that stakeholders must address.
Increased rates of delinquency, particularly among poor and minority citizens, also expose borrowers to job market discrimination. Some employers use credit checks as part of their hiring process, a practice that many argue is unduly burdensome and prevents Americans from getting the jobs they need to effectively pay off their student loans.
2016 will likely be remembered for a deeply polarizing presidential election that brought out huge numbers of voters. It should also be remembered for massive voter disenfranchisement.
In this election season, reining in Wall Street is clearly a burning issue for many voters. The passion for Wall Street reform is closely wrapped up with working class anger and anxiety driven by wage stagnation and economic insecurity, all within a climate of accelerating wealth and income inequality.
Washington College’s initiative could encourage students to finish school, said Mark Huelsman, a senior policy analyst at Demos, a left-leaning think tank. “It’s certainly a good thing,” Heulsman said. “It can provide an incentive for students to complete and we know that the student debt crisis is fueled in large part by those who take on debt but don’t graduate.”
How much should I save for retirement? How much should I increase my contributions when I get a raise? Should I save in my firm’s 401(k) or a personal IRA? Which investments should I choose?
For many of us, making the right choices when navigating the bewildering world of investing for retirement can seem nearly impossible. We know that correctly answering these and other questions that arise when investing for retirement are the keys to a comfortable living during our golden years, yet it often feels as if we’d need a finance degree to do so.
The latest challenge of voting procedures contends the state’s system eliminates names of registered voters based on their failure to vote. The lawsuit naming Secretary of State Jon Husted specifically alleges the illegal cancellation of registered voters who are homeless.
There’s some data to indicate that borrowers of color are more likely to find themselves dealing with a debt collector over unpaid student loans. Black students are more likely to borrow to attend college than their white counterparts and, when they do, they’re more likely to take on more debt, according to a study released last year by Demos, a left-leaning think tank.
Politicians refer to American exceptionalism as a way of pointing out how special is our country. I recently returned to work following three months of paid leave to take care of a very exceptional newborn boy. Having the opportunity to bond with my child is an exceptional experience in the American labor force.
This exceptionalism Americans shouldn't be proud of.
The bright lights of network television and Coca-Cola sponsorships of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tend to obscure the fact that the teams playing represent, you know, actual institutions of higher learning. Here's how affordable it is to attend the top 16 in the tournament.