Issue Areas
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth is engaged in an array of issues to advance evidence-based ideas and policies that promote strong, stable, and broad-based economic growth.
821 Results
Economic research shows immigration is good for U.S. workers, the economy, and affordability (opens in a new tab)
Essays Aug 31, 2026
When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, mass deportations and immigration restrictions were renewed as one of the political priorities of his second administration. Since then,…
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U.S. regions with more unauthorized immigrant workers experienced declines in new housing construction (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 31, 2026
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A large-scale deportation would shrink the U.S. economy, with particular harm to some states (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 31, 2026
Streamlining applications to social programs unlocks more support for the U.S. families who need it most (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jul 7, 2026
Millions of low-income families in the United States tap into multiple social programs to help them meet their needs. A single household, for example, might rely on the Supplemental Nutrition…
Multiple Program Participation in the Safety Net: Incidence, Impediments, and Implications (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jul 7, 2026
Multiple program participation is a defining feature of the U.S. safety net, with half of recipients enrolling in two or more programs. Yet most research examines programs in isolation, missing…
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, one year later: Parsing the evidence on the law’s consequences so far (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jun 30, 2026
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law one year ago on July 4, 2025, shifted trillions of dollars in income from working-class families to corporations and very wealthy…
Barriers to Benefits: Unemployment Insurance Take-Up and Labor Market Effects (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers May 19, 2026
Unemployment insurance (UI) take-up is relatively low in the United States. We implement a large-scale field experiment among 50,000 likely unemployed individuals to study the causes and labor supply implications…
Factsheet: What the research says about early care and education in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets Apr 16, 2026
Research has long shown the importance and value of high-quality early childhood care and education. Child care offers working parents the ability to fully participate in the labor force and…
How does early childhood care and education affect U.S. families and workers, and which policies support child participation and boost the quality of care? (opens in a new tab)
Reports Apr 16, 2026
As states consider policy action in early childhood care and education, there is an existing—and growing—evidence base from which to draw lessons. This report summarizes the rigorous evidence on program…
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The U.S. child care industry was hit harder by COVID-19 than the rest of the economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 15, 2026
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Higher-income U.S. families typically spend more on child care than families with less income (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 15, 2026
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U.S. families pay more for infant care, center-based care, and for care in densely populated areas (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 15, 2026
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The cost of child care in the United States has grown faster than other household necessities (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 15, 2026
Federal policymakers can ensure Trump accounts do not exacerbate inequality in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs Apr 14, 2026
In July 2025, Congress passed a federal budget bill (Public Law 119-21, also commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) that, among other things, established a new type…
A review of the state of child care in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Reports Apr 9, 2026
Affordable, available, high-quality child care is essential for sustained, broadly shared economic growth and equitable access to workforce opportunities. In most of the United States, however, child care fails this…
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The U.S. child care sector recovered more slowly from the COVID-19 pandemic than the broader labor market (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 8, 2026
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Wages for U.S. child care workers are low despite the high costs of care for families (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 8, 2026
Factsheet: Using asset limits in public benefit programs (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets Mar 10, 2026
A household’s assets, or its overall wealth, are the resources required to ensure its family members can weather the financial disruption when unexpected expenses emerge. Yet many U.S. households do…
Can remote work attenuate mothers’ mobility constraints in the U.S. labor force? (opens in a new tab)
Essays Feb 12, 2026
Women’s labor force participation increased dramatically over the course of the 20th century in the United States. Indeed, the labor force participation rate of women between the ages of 25…
Understanding the Congestion Child Penalty: Can Remote Work Attenuate It? (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Feb 12, 2026
We study the impact of commuting time on the labor supply of women with children in the United States. We show that congestion and long commutes discourage the labor force…
Why federal food assistance became politically polarizing—and what to do about it (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs Feb 2, 2026
On January 31, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson requested that Congress pass federal legislation to make the Food Stamp Program permanent. Up to that point, the program had operated as…
Dissecting Racial Politicization: Long-Run Evidence from the Food Stamp Program (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Feb 2, 2026
We explore long-run racial polarization induced by the original Food Stamps Program: a major policy choice to expand the social safety net in the United States in the 1960s and…
ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jan 5, 2026
Yesterday was the second day of the 2026 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in Philadelphia…
ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jan 4, 2026
Yesterday was the first day of the 2026 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in Philadelphia…
U.S. social insurance programs support workers and economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Essays Dec 2, 2025
Since coming to power in early 2025, Republican majorities in Congress have shifted resources away from the nation’s social insurance programs, most notably to offset the cost of H.R. 1,…
Equitable Growth hosts Econ 101 virtual event on how U.S. social insurance programs boost economic mobility (opens in a new tab)
Essays Dec 1, 2025
Microsoft Copilot helped draft this event recap. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted its latest Econ 101 briefing aimed at providing in-depth evidence for policymakers on how U.S.…
Distributional weighting in benefit-cost analysis is practical and effective at assessing government rulemaking without bias against low-income individuals (opens in a new tab)
Reports Nov 13, 2025
Distributional weighting in benefit-cost analysis is a tool for overcoming bias against lower-income individuals in economists’ measurements of the net benefit of government policies that affect populations at different levels…
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Population weights reveal that the distribution of cost and benefits of policies are skewed differently (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 13, 2025
Tariff costs impact industries with mostly White, male, and noncitizen workers (opens in a new tab)
Essays Nov 4, 2025
The U.S. economy is flying blind, with most economic-data publications paused indefinitely due to the shutdown of the federal government amid a general U.S. labor market slowdown and just as…
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Workers in the Midwest and South tend to work in more tariff-exposed industries (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 3, 2025
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Workers with less than a college education are overrepresented in the most tariff-exposed industries (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 3, 2025
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White, Hispanic, and noncitizen men are overrepresented in the most tariff-exposed industries (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 3, 2025
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U.S. manufacturing is particularly vulnerable to tariff costs (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 3, 2025
In Conversation with Omari Swinton (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation Sep 24, 2025
Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…
Fitting the Bill? The First Federal Paid Leave Mandate (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Sep 23, 2025
We find that the first federal paid leave mandate in the US, enacted under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, increased paid leave taking by nearly 200% for eligible workers,…
Even health care, the strongest sector of the U.S. jobs market, cannot deliver the wages its workers deserve without unionization (opens in a new tab)
Essays Sep 10, 2025
The growth of jobs in the U.S. health care industry is the linchpin to a strong U.S. labor market in 2025 and beyond. Health care is one of only a…
In Her Hands: A Guaranteed Income Initiative (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Sep 4, 2025
In Her Hands (IHH) is a guaranteed income (GI) initiative aimed at addressing persistent economic insecurity among women in neighborhoods with some of Georgia’s highest poverty rates. Co-designed with local…
States can support children and their economies using direct cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program (opens in a new tab)
Reports Aug 28, 2025
Efficient, effective, and responsive income support programs can reduce economic inequality and support economic mobility. If targeted effectively, these programs can help children, families, and workers meet their needs and…
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TANF benefit amounts vary widely by state, but are overall small – updated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 26, 2025
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A majority of states spend less than 20 percent of TANF funds on basic assistance (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 26, 2025
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TANF access varies widely by state (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 26, 2025
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Direct cash assistance to low-income families has decreased dramatically over time (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 26, 2025
The 10 worst policies for equitable economic growth in the 2025 budget reconciliation law (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jul 14, 2025
The 2025 budget reconciliation law that was enacted earlier this month is a sprawling piece of legislation, touching almost every corner of the federal budget and the U.S. economy. It…
Republican reconciliation bill’s cuts to social programs will damage some congressional districts’ local economies (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jul 11, 2025
In a recent working paper, Equitable Growth grantee Robert Manduca of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor demonstrates that government transfers make sizable contributions to local economies in much of…
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In some U.S. congressional districts, cuts from the reconciliation bill are bigger than multiple local industries combined (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jul 10, 2025
Americans informed about the distributional effects of Republicans’ tax and budget bill overwhelmingly oppose it (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jul 3, 2025
Republicans in the U.S. Senate recently passed a version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, championed by President Donald Trump. The House of Representatives passed an earlier version of…
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act disproportionately harms lower-income Americans (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jul 3, 2025
Americans Informed About the Distributional Effects of Republicans’ Budget Bill Overwhelmingly Oppose It (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jun 25, 2025
Republicans in the Senate are currently considering the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which, if enacted, would be the most regressive U.S. tax and budget law in at least the…
Congressional Republicans’ budget bill is the most regressive in at least 40 years (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jun 25, 2025
The U.S. Congress is in the midst of debating a budget bill that would make massive changes to U.S. tax and spending policy over the course of the next decade…
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Millions of Americans, including children, will lose nutrition assistance due to proposed SNAP cuts – updated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 24, 2025
Medicaid and SNAP cuts in congressional Republicans’ budget bill will negatively impact local economies (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jun 24, 2025
The budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives proposes to make large cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and other social programs to pay…
Financial and Transfer Income as Components of the Regional Economic Base (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jun 24, 2025
Economists and geographers have long divided industries into “basic” and “nonbasic” sectors depending on whether they bring money into a region from outside or serve local demand. Traditionally, the regional…
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Reducing IRS funding by half could cost the same amount of the Republican budget bill in noncompliance increases (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 23, 2025
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No tax on tips or overtime provisions cost less than the more regressive proposals in the Republican tax bill (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 23, 2025
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Americans have heard more about the no tax on tips and overtime provisions of the Republican bill than its more regressive provisions (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 23, 2025
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Many of the wealthiest U.S. individuals do not pay any estate taxes (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 23, 2025
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16 million Americans will lose health care coverage if the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act becomes law (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 23, 2025
The hidden trade-offs of nonwage job amenities for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)
Essays Jun 10, 2025
When workers choose jobs with predictable schedules, safer conditions, or greater autonomy, they are often paying a price: lower wages. In some cases, these hidden trade-offs are considerable. Indeed, my…
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The costliness of nonwage job amenities explains two-thirds of the gender wage gap in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 10, 2025
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U.S. women workers at all levels of compensation are more concentrated in jobs with predictable schedules, which pay less, than men (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 10, 2025
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The anti-instrument method of estimating the cost of nonwage amenities produces the most plausible results (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 10, 2025
The political implications of bad jobs and the decline of unions (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 13, 2025
Bad jobs have become a distinctive feature of the U.S. economy over the past few decades. Globally, a lack of adequate demand, or what economists call “secular stagnation,” has meant…
More accurately measuring economic sentiment will help build a U.S. economy—and democracy—that works for all (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 13, 2025
When politicians and members of the media discuss the state of “the economy” in the United States, they often use a small handful of data points. Of all the indicators…
Housing insecurity and U.S. economic policies: Lessons from tenant organizing (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 13, 2025
The destructive force of authoritarian power has become a prominent feature of U.S. political life. In just the first few months of 2025, we’ve seen unprecedented moves to use the…
Tariffs pose real risks to the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 12, 2025
Uncertainty around trade policy makes it difficult to discuss the current state of the U.S. labor market. Businesses, workers, and policymakers at all levels make decisions based on both what…
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Visualizations May 9, 2025
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Small adjustments in response to tariffs could push U.S. unemployment up slightly in the short run but become more meaningful the longer they remain in place (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations May 9, 2025
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Visualizations May 9, 2025
Factsheet: What we know about the federal employer-provided child care credit and how can it be better used by businesses (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets Apr 22, 2025
The employer-provided child care credit, also referred to as Section 45F in the Internal Revenue Code, provides a limited subsidy to businesses in the United States that provide child care…
Improving economic outcomes for single mothers and their children across the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Apr 16, 2025
Single-mother households are becoming more and more common in the United States. Over the past 50 years, the number of children raised by single mothers has more than doubled. It…
Request for Proposals: The economic effects of the Inflation Reduction Act (opens in a new tab)
RFPs Apr 2, 2025
Do not abandon the care agenda (opens in a new tab)
Blog Mar 19, 2025
This column, co-authored by Equitable Growth President and CEO Shayna Strom and former Deputy Director of the White House Gender Policy Council Shilpa Phadke, first appeared in Democracy Journal in…
The U.S. House of Representatives’ budget resolution threatens social infrastructure programs, putting families’ well-being at risk (opens in a new tab)
Blog Mar 10, 2025
In late February, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in federal spending cuts. This resolution provides…
Testimony by Michael Linden House Oversight Subcommittee on Healthcare and Financial Services (opens in a new tab)
Blog Feb 11, 2025
Chairman Grothman, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi, and members of the Committee – thank you for the opportunity to be here. Today, I’d like to make three main points. First, federal investments…
ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jan 6, 2025
Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…
ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jan 5, 2025
Yesterday was the second day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in San…
ASSA 2025 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jan 4, 2025
Yesterday was the first day of the 2025 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in San…
Recent research shows how paid leave impacts women’s employment and financial security in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Dec 13, 2024
During the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government ensured that all U.S. workers had access to at least 2 weeks of paid sick leave and up…
In Conversation with Fenaba Addo (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation Dec 12, 2024
Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…
New research highlights the impact of COVID-era unconditional cash benefits for U.S. workers and families (opens in a new tab)
Blog Dec 10, 2024
The breadth of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in sweeping, albeit temporary, changes to income support programs and tax policies in the United States. These changes include…
Request for Proposals: Promoting competition and supporting workers in an era of AI innovation (opens in a new tab)
RFPs Nov 20, 2024
Request for proposals: Research grants for early career scholars (opens in a new tab)
RFPs Oct 30, 2024
In Conversation with Mishaela Durán (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation Sep 12, 2024
Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…
New federal heat standard will protect U.S. workers from the ill effects of high temperatures amid intensifying climate change (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 1, 2024
U.S. workers are more vulnerable than ever to the ill effects of high and rising temperatures as the world continues to shatter heat records this year. Climate-related deaths and injuries…
In Conversation with Natalie Foster (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation Jul 2, 2024
Equitable Growth in Conversation is a recurring series where we talk with economists and other academics to help us better understand whether and how economic inequality affects economic growth and…
Equitable Growth receives funding to advance women’s power, gender equality, and care economy (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 28, 2024
Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal funds organization as part of $1 billion global commitment The Washington Center for Equitable Growth announced today that it has received funding from Pivotal as part…
Measuring psychological burdens in access to U.S. social programs (opens in a new tab)
Reports May 6, 2024
Lessons from new research on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policymakers are increasingly paying attention to administrative burdens—those “frictions that people face in their encounters with public services.” In 2022,…
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Black SNAP applicants report greater stress as learning costs increase (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 30, 2024
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Some demographic groups felt less stigma than others in the SNAP application process (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 30, 2024
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Most SNAP applicants feel respected by program staff when applying (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 30, 2024
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The SNAP application is more stressful for some demographic groups than others (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 30, 2024
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Most applicants find applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be stressful (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 30, 2024
Enhanced Child Tax Credit helped U.S. families afford life-enhancing necessities and cope with inflation (opens in a new tab)
Blog Apr 2, 2024
Amid ongoing congressional debate over expanding the Child Tax Credit for U.S. families, it’s important to understand why the fears about the expansion of that tax credit in 2021 were…
Spending Responses to the Child Tax Credit Expansions (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Apr 2, 2024
This article summarizes the literature that studied how people used the 2021 advance Child Tax Credit. Four primary findings emerged. Families more frequently reporting paying down debt during the first…
Request for Proposals: How effective was the fiscal response to the COVID-19 recession for workers? (opens in a new tab)
RFPs Mar 18, 2024
Equitable Growth hosts State of the Union press briefing with leading U.S. economists (opens in a new tab)
Blog Mar 7, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth last week hosted an online press briefing in prelude to tonight’s State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress by President Joe Biden.…
The state of the U.S. labor market 4 years after the start of the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)
Blog Mar 5, 2024
Over the past 4 years, the U.S. economy—in particular the U.S. labor market—weathered some incredible shocks and fluctuations. From the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain breakdowns to global energy shocks…
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In 2023, real wage growth outpaces similar points, and even peaks, of prior recoveries (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Mar 4, 2024
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The labor force participation rate for U.S. prime-age workers remains at its highest level in two decades (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Mar 4, 2024
Ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, the U.S. economy is strong (opens in a new tab)
Blog Feb 21, 2024
On March 7, President Joe Biden will deliver the 2024 State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress and the American public, in which he will tout his economic…
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Personal loan delinquency is low or within normal levels for all major loan types (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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Production and nonsupervisory workers now have higher real wages than the pre-pandemic trend (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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The gap in unemployment between White and Black workers is at historic lows (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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Wage growth for 16- to 24-year-old workers is higher than at any point in the previous expansion (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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Unemployment for 16- to 24-year-old workers is at low levels not seen in decades (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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Real U.S. GDP now exceeds pre-pandemic projections by the Congressional budget Office (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
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The Great Recession of 2007-2009 caused permanent damage to U.S. GDP (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Feb 20, 2024
Equitable Growth’s recent ‘Econ 101’ assessed the state of the U.S. economy and recovery for Capitol Hill staff (opens in a new tab)
Blog Feb 13, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth hosted a briefing last week—part of a series we call “Econ 101”—presenting insight on the state of the U.S. economy and how the current…
Request for proposals: Research grants for early career scholars (opens in a new tab)
RFPs Nov 30, 2023
Sameera Fazili and Mary Beth Maxwell join Equitable Growth’s Board of Directors (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 15, 2023
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced the addition of two new members to its board of directors: Sameera Fazili, former deputy assistant to the president and deputy director…
New evidence suggests that receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program facilitates work in the long run (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 13, 2023
One of today’s most heated debates around U.S. income support programs is about work requirements. From the removal of work requirements through the 2021 enhancements to the Child Tax Credit…
The Effect of Means-Tested Transfers on Work: Evidence from Quasi-Randomly Assigned SNAP Caseworkers (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Nov 13, 2023
We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the dynamic labor supply effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for a representative population using novel administrative data and an examiner design.…
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SNAP receipt increases long-run rates of employment among applicants who worked steadily prior to application (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 8, 2023
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SNAP receipt does not affect rates of employment among applicants with weak pre-application labor force attachment (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 8, 2023
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SNAP receipt does not affect rates of employment in the broad group of working-age applicant (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 8, 2023
What the minimum wage can tell us about the future of the U.S. child care system (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 1, 2023
The U.S. child care market is plagued by a math problem. Families in the United States are stretched thin, dedicating substantial portions of their household budgets to child care expenses.…
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Child care wages have risen faster relative to the broader service sector since passage of the American Rescue Plan (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Oct 31, 2023
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U.S. child care job openings remain elevated as employment lags (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Oct 31, 2023
What recent research says about the benefits of labor strikes and growing worker power for broader U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog Oct 25, 2023
Labor organizing and strikes are experiencing a resurgence in the United States. Before this year’s bevy of labor actions—including Hollywood strikes, autoworker walk-outs, healthcare labor stoppages, and more—2022 and 2021…
Testimony by Shayna Strom before the Senate Budget Committee (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 20, 2023
Chairman Whitehouse, Ranking Member Grassley, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am the President and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable…
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The U.S. has had the strongest growth of any G7 country since the beginning of the pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 20, 2023
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More Black men workers and Latino workers are employed now than prior to the coronavirus pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 20, 2023
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Employment recovered much more quickly after the COVID-19 recession than after previous recessions (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 20, 2023
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Investment in care infrastructure could yield twice as many new jobs as investment in physical infrastructure alone (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 19, 2023
Latino homeownership: Confronting home appraisal bias to create a more equitable and more sustainable U.S. economic trajectory (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 10, 2023
Homeownership is part of the American Dream and a pathway to build wealth for many people in the United States. Homeownership allows families to plant roots, build equity, and secure…
The effects of the expanded Child Tax Credit on low-income families in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 2, 2023
Childhood poverty is a stubborn problem in the United States. About 11 million U.S. children lived in poverty prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for nearly one-third of the impoverished…
Short-term effects of the expanded Child Tax Credit on U.S. labor force participation amid the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jul 26, 2023
There is a common politicized thread to arguments against expanding the federal antipoverty Child Tax Credit program permanently and to the justifications that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court…
The Short-Term Labor Supply Response to the Expanded Child Tax Credit (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jul 26, 2023
We estimate the extensive and intensive margin labor supply response to the monthly Child Tax Credit disbursed in 2021 as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Using Current…
New research shows that differences in state Unemployment Insurance rules cause inequity and inefficiency (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jul 19, 2023
The Unemployment Insurance system in the United States aims to provide temporary and partial wage replacement for workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own. In helping unemployed…
Racial Inequality in the U.S. Unemployment Insurance System (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jul 19, 2023
The decentralized US unemployment insurance (UI) system lets states decide on key rules. Decentralization could help states efficiently adapt to local economic conditions, but it could also generate racial inequality.…
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Harmonizing Unemployment Insurance rules to be more generous significantly shrinks the U.S. racial wage replacement gap (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jul 19, 2023
The economic costs of gun violence in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs Jul 18, 2023
When it comes to understanding the costs of gun violence in the United States, many people rightfully focus on the human cost. People who are slain or take their own…
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Firearm injuries cost more than twice as much as other hospital care in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jul 13, 2023
Algorithmic wage discrimination requires policy solutions that enforce predictability and the U.S. spirit of equal pay for equal work (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jul 12, 2023
U.S. consumers generally believe that gig workers who labor for companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are free to set their own hours and thus able to…
On Algorithmic Wage Discrimination (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jul 12, 2023
Recent technological developments related to the extraction and processing of data have given rise to widespread concerns about a reduction of privacy in the workplace. For a growing number of…
Equitable Growth delivers economist sign-on letter and comment letter to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on its Proposed Revisions to Circular A-4, Regulatory Analysis (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs Jun 20, 2023
This post has been updated to reflect that Equitable Growth’s economist sign-on letter, not our comment letter, was submitted to regulations.gov due to an administrative submission error. The Washington Center…
Paid sick leave means dads can spend more time caring for loved ones and less time worrying about missing work (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jun 15, 2023
The economic story of the United States in the post-WWII era is arguably the dramatic surge in women’s labor force participation. The increases in hours worked and income generated by…
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Paid sick leave ordinances allow more U.S. men to care for loved ones outside of work (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 15, 2023
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Women maintain a large share of domestic labor, despite gains in U.S. labor market equity (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Jun 15, 2023
The Impact of Austerity on Gender Inequality in Time Allocation in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jun 8, 2023
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 caused large declines in state revenues, prompting many states to implement austerity measures to meet their balanced budget requirements. Decreases in public spending can have…
Wealth as a driver of income and consumption mobility in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Jun 7, 2023
When most Americans think about how economic well-being transfers from parents to children, they will likely think about income, consumption, and wealth. After all, parents’ ability to provide for and…
Intergenerational Mobility using Income, Consumption, and Wealth (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Jun 7, 2023
We use fifty years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to study the intergenerational correlation in income, consumption, and wealth to answer the question: is intergenerational mobility similar across…
Food assistance can disrupt intergenerational poverty in the United States, promoting racial economic equity (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 30, 2023
The post-COVID-19 economy is a strange beast. Unemployment rates are at historic lows, but inflation—despite some cooling—remains high. Many parents continue to struggle with child care and their children’s schooling,…
The Effectiveness of the Food Stamp Program at Reducing Differences in the Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers May 30, 2023
This paper investigates the effects of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) on racial disparities in the intergenerational persistence of poverty. We apply staggered difference-in-difference models that exploit variation in the…
Child care prices, inflation, and the end of federal pandemic-era aid in five charts (opens in a new tab)
Blog May 8, 2023
For much of the COVID-19 recession of 2020 and subsequent economic recovery, the child care sector was spared the accelerating inflation that impacted other areas of the U.S. economy. As…
Fitting the Bill? The First Federal Paid Leave Mandate (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers May 4, 2023
We find that the first federal paid leave mandate in the US, enacted under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, increased paid leave taking by nearly 200% for eligible workers,…
Who Cares? Paid Sick Leave Mandates, Care-Giving, and Gender (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers May 4, 2023
We use employment data from the Current Population Survey to assess the efficacy of state-mandated paid sick leave policies on leave-taking behavior with a focus on any variation by gender.…
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Child care wages have risen faster relative to the broader U.S. service sector since passage of the American Rescue Plan (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 27, 2023
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U.S. child care job openings remain elevated as employment lags (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 27, 2023
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Inflation for U.S. child care prices has historically exceeded inflation for all other products (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 27, 2023
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Child care prices are accelerating faster than similar periods over the past decade (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 27, 2023
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Child care prices are once again rising faster than all other items in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Apr 27, 2023
Police in public schools harm students, leading to far-reaching socioeconomic inequalities alongside less safe schools (opens in a new tab)
Blog Apr 19, 2023
This column is the third in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…
Employers can alleviate the U.S. child care crisis, but they cannot be the primary solution (opens in a new tab)
Blog Apr 13, 2023
The U.S. Department of Commerce last month announced new requirements for semiconductor manufacturers seeking funding under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022—a key component of the Biden Administration’s industrial…
The importance of the American Rescue Plan for U.S. workers and families on the law’s second anniversary, in 8 charts (opens in a new tab)
Blog Mar 10, 2023
Tomorrow marks 2 years since the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law. One year after the COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 triggered enormous employment losses and…
Executive actions to leverage federal agencies to improve child care in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Feb 8, 2023
Relevant federal agencies: U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The White House White House Council of Economic Advisers Relevant federal laws: Child Care Development Block Grant…
What is social infrastructure, and how does it support economic growth in the United States? (opens in a new tab)
Videos Jan 26, 2023
The word “infrastructure” brings to mind the big physical systems that underpin the U.S. economy, such as highways, bridges, tunnels, and water and sewage systems. Indeed, infrastructure is composed of…
Diversity in Economics video series uplifts diverse voices and research in economics and social sciences (opens in a new tab)
Videos Jan 5, 2023
A key priority of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth is supporting researchers from underrepresented backgrounds and at various points along their career ladders, contributing to the broader effort to…
A missed opportunity to expand the Child Tax Credit will affect U.S. families and the broader economy now and for years to come (opens in a new tab)
Blog Dec 21, 2022
Earlier this week, the U.S. Congress released its proposed omnibus bill that funds the federal government through September 2023 and makes various other reforms to the nation’s retirement system, antitrust…
Unions in the United States improve worker safety and lower health inequality (opens in a new tab)
Reports Dec 13, 2022
Ros Reggans was overjoyed when she learned that her employer, a Chicago-area nursing home chain, had received more than $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid,…
Early evidence on federal government income supports for U.S. individuals, workers, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Reports Dec 13, 2022
This report focuses on preliminary research surrounding the three largest income support programs totaling $1.6 trillion that were paid directly to U.S. individuals, workers, and families amid the first two…
The economic impact of housing insecurity in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Videos Dec 8, 2022
This column is the first in a series by guest authors examining systemic racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in the U.S. economy and in access to government social infrastructure and…
Frequently asked questions about paid sick time for U.S. workers and their families and the broader U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 30, 2022
Sometimes people in the United States experience health conditions that affect their ability to work, whether it’s a cold, flu, or cancer. This may lead to questions about whether they…
Railway negotiations highlight the importance of paid sick time for U.S. workers and the broader economy (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 30, 2022
The U.S. Congress this week is considering legislation imposing a new contract on U.S. railroad workers to avert a potential strike following a breakdown in negotiations between several of the…
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The workplace health benefits of union membership are especially large in nursing homes with higher percentages of Black workers (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 29, 2022
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Regions with lower levels of nursing home unionization tend to have higher worker COVID-19 infection rates (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 29, 2022
Factsheet: What the research says about the economics of the 2021 enhanced Child Tax Credit (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets Nov 29, 2022
The Child Tax Credit has historically provided income support to middle- and high-income taxpayers with children. In 2021, however, the U.S. Congress enacted a temporary enhanced Child Tax Credit with…
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The lowest-income U.S. households with children were the least likely to receive the enhanced monthly Child Tax Credit in October 2021 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 28, 2022
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The enhanced Child Tax Credit reduced hardship among low-income households with children (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 28, 2022
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Unemployed U.S. workers tapped Unemployment Insurance at unprecedented rates amid the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 17, 2022
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Federal income support spending amid the COVID-19 pandemic injected more than $1.6 trillion into the U.S. economy to spark a sharp economic rebound from the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Nov 14, 2022
Advancing research and evidence on child care and U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 10, 2022
Research shows that accessible and affordable child care is both a lifeline for working families and a driver of growth across the entire U.S. economy. A functioning child care market…
Including immigrants in the U.S. tax system is fiscally responsible and can boost economic growth by lifting the well-being of their families (opens in a new tab)
Blog Nov 10, 2022
The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act boasts the potential for more noncitizen immigrant workers and entrepreneurs to pay into the U.S. tax system, improving the federal government’s tax collection. What’s…
Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Effect on Paid Leave Taking During the Early Pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Nov 3, 2022
We study the effect of access to Emergency Paid Sick and Family Leave on leave-taking behavior during the early months of the pandemic. We compare monthly paid absence from January…
What federal statistical agencies can do to improve survey response rates among Hispanic communities in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Oct 14, 2022
Between 2010 and 2020, the Hispanic American population grew 23 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing communities in the United States. According to the 2020 decennial census, Hispanic Americans…
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Latinos and American Indians or Alaskan Natives were disproportionately undercounted in the 2020 census (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Oct 14, 2022
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Coastal and Southwestern states have the highest share of Hispanic Americans (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Oct 14, 2022
Latino workers are often segregated into bad jobs, but a strong U.S. labor movement can boost job quality and U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs Oct 13, 2022
Latino workers represent a large and growing share of the U.S. workforce. But even with the highest employment rates in the United States, Latinos face a number of barriers to…
Equitable Growth announces two Dissertation Scholars for 2022–23 academic year (opens in a new tab)
Blog Oct 6, 2022
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth each year offers funding and mentorship opportunities to two pre-doctoral students through our Dissertation Scholars program. This program, whose application coincides with Equitable Growth’s…
The effects of income on the economic wellbeing of families with low incomes: Evidence from the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Oct 3, 2022
We examine the effects of an unconditional cash transfer on the economic wellbeing (material hardship, ability to meet needs, money on hand, use of friends and family for assistance, and…
Budget analyses of U.S. income support programs must incorporate long-term benefits for children (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 22, 2022
When any piece of legislation is considered by the U.S. Congress, it typically goes through a budget analysis to establish its impact on the federal government’s bottom line. These analyses,…
Policymakers can still use American Rescue Plan funds to bolster the U.S. child care system and ensure it has a strong future (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 20, 2022
In January, the 118th Congress will draw to a close following a productive session that saw legislative action on pandemic relief, infrastructure investments, manufacturing and research incentives, and critical investments…
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30 U.S. states received the second half of their American Rescue plan fiscal recovery funds in May 2022 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 19, 2022
New research shows that 1 in 4 adults in the United States suffers from transportation insecurity (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 14, 2022
Access to transportation is crucial to ensuring that people can meet their basic needs and participate in society and the economy. It goes without saying that if people can’t get…
Consumers initially spend less than a third of their stimulus checks, on average, amid recessions (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 12, 2022
Economists and policymakers alike generally agree on the effectiveness of sending out direct stimulus checks to individuals to help reverse an economic downturn by encouraging more consumer spending. But they…
Marginal Propensity to Consume in Recessions: a Meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers Sep 12, 2022
This paper assembles a dataset of 1244 estimates of marginal propensities to consume (MPC) out of stimulus checks and other small transitory or predictable payments—as reported by 40 studies. I…
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When the unemployment rate increases, the marginal propensity to consume rises (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 8, 2022
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The marginal propensity to consume falls with the size of the stimulus payment (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Sep 8, 2022
Equitable Growth names Shayna Strom as interim president and CEO (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 8, 2022
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced that Shayna Strom has been named its interim president and CEO. Strom comes to the organization with decades of experience bridging nonprofits,…
Measuring spending inequality in the United States in real time (opens in a new tab)
Blog Sep 8, 2022
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession in 2020, followed by a swift U.S. economic recovery, offer lessons today about why real-time data are so crucial to…
Why the Inflation Reduction Act is key to strong, broad-based U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 16, 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act spells good news for the U.S. economy. The newly signed legislation makes historic investments to combat climate change, lower healthcare costs, and crack down on tax…
How to stop a recession by strengthening income supports in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 15, 2022
Income support programs, such as Unemployment Insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are powerful tools to deploy when the threat of recession looms and unemployment climbs. By providing income…
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During recessions, the loss of employment income is concentrated among already-disadvantaged groups (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 12, 2022
American Sociological Association 2022 conference highlights inequities among vulnerable U.S. populations (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 12, 2022
The American Sociological Association held its 117th Annual Meeting from August 5–9, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. This event gathers sociologists and those involved in the scientific study of society…
Policymakers tackling inflation can’t overlook the impact of higher interest rates on the U.S. child care market (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 11, 2022
As families in the United States grapple with rising prices and ongoing supply shortages, fiscal and monetary policymakers are shifting their focus from the COVID-19 recession and recovery to the…
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The child day care sector continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic slower than the overall U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 9, 2022
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Child care centers with higher wages experience lower turnover (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations Aug 9, 2022
The economic evidence behind the Inflation Reduction Act and why it will boost strong, broad-based economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog Aug 5, 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act spells good news for the U.S. economy. The proposed legislation now before the U.S. Senate would make historic investments to combat climate change, lower healthcare costs,…
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