Issue Areas

What Work Does Generative AI Do? (opens in a new tab)

Essays Sep 8, 2026

Since August 2024, our Real-Time Population Survey (RPS), a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults ages 18 to 64, has tracked how many Americans use generative artificial intelligence (AI). The adoption…

What Work Does Generative AI Do? (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers Sep 8, 2026

We measure how workers use genAI for their jobs in a nationally representative survey linking genAI adoption to detailed occupations and tasks. Our data provide the first task-level genAI adoption…

What happens to U.S. workers without access to Unemployment Insurance amid economic downturns or disruptions related to AI? (opens in a new tab)

Essays Sep 2, 2026

The adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace has led to predictions of U.S. labor market disruptions. In response, policymakers have increased attention on the fitness of the nation’s social…

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,…

U.S. regions with more unauthorized immigrant workers experienced declines in new housing construction (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Aug 31, 2026

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

What can federal data collection tell policymakers and researchers about artificial intelligence in the U.S. labor market? (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs Aug 24, 2026

It is impossible to perfectly predict how artificial intelligence will affect the U.S. labor market. Policymakers and researchers are grappling with important questions around this topic, including what new opportunities…

Terms and conditions for generative AI users outline a new legal framework that puts U.S. consumers at risk (opens in a new tab)

Essays Aug 20, 2026

Generative AI, or genAI, is a form of artificial intelligence that produces content in response to prompts and includes large language model chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.…

The Terms and Conditions of Generative AI (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers Aug 20, 2026

Generative AI raises pressing questions for myriad doctrinal areas. Policymakers and scholars have responded rapidly, devoting substantial attention to these difficult legal and policy questions. But, as a practical matter,…

Estimating AI exposure is useful for research but cannot yet tell policymakers the whole story of AI’s impact on the labor market (opens in a new tab)

Essays Aug 7, 2026

Artificial intelligence has the potential to substantially change the nature and availability of work. To effectively manage the transitions this technology might bring to the U.S. economy, policymakers need information…

Tracking new research on artificial intelligence and its impact on the U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)

Essays Aug 5, 2026

Headlines often paint extreme and dissonant pictures of the future impact of AI on the U.S. economy and labor market, with workers themselves echoing the conflicting feelings of optimism and…

Why Unemployment Insurance Alone Is Not Enough in the AI Era (opens in a new tab)

Essays Jul 8, 2026

Since the large language model ChatGPT was rolled out in November 2022, artificial intelligence has captured the public’s attention and generated myriad debates over the emerging technology’s potential impacts on…

Personal Income in the United States nudges up in May but is down 0.76 percent in the past 6 months (opens in a new tab)

Essays Jun 25, 2026

According to today’s release of Personal Income estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. household incomes have fallen 0.76 percent in the past 6 months, with month-to-month declines…

Transfer income has fallen faster than other components of U.S. income over the past 3 months (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 25, 2026

Income declines over the past 3 months and the past 6 months are higher for low-income U.S. households (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 25, 2026

Personal Income is now declining year-over-year, a possible warning sign for the economy (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 25, 2026

The United States can simultaneously foster an equitable AI boom and a clean energy economy (opens in a new tab)

Videos Jun 12, 2026

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently hosted a timely discussion exploring how the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is colliding with—and reshaping—the clean energy transition. Bringing together researchers and…

U.S. workers need sectoral bargaining now more than ever (opens in a new tab)

Essays Jun 4, 2026

U.S. union membership and coverage rates have declined for decades, fueled in part by legal barriers to new organizing, including the limiting of collective bargaining to specific workplaces or employers and misclassifying certain groups of workers so they…

Union coverage and auto employment were worse in Michigan than the broader U.S. amid the recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-2009 (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 3, 2026

Union workers enjoy higher pay compared to nonunion workers (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 3, 2026

Union coverage has declined across occupations in the past decade (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Jun 3, 2026

In Conversation with Costa Samaras (opens in a new tab)

In Conversation Jun 2, 2026

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…

Navigating the research on the impacts of AI on work, workers, and the labor market (opens in a new tab)

Research Databases May 21, 2026

Artificial intelligence will have a largely unpredictable but potentially profound effect on the labor market. Individuals have speculated how AI will affect the workforce since its earliest developments. But public…

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…

What is the relationship between inflation, interest rates, and economic growth, and what does it mean for the new Federal Reserve chair? (opens in a new tab)

Issue Briefs May 18, 2026

Since regaining the Oval Office in early 2025, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lower interest rates and severely criticized former Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s cautious approach…

Research shows unions dampen support for right-wing populism and help workers navigate technological transitions (opens in a new tab)

Essays May 1, 2026

On May 1, much of the world—though not the United States—celebrates International Workers Day to honor the social and economic contributions of workers and labor unions. The May Day holiday began in large part to mark…

Certain AMS contract provisions give workers a sense of influence over how technology is used in their workplaces (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

How union contracts are protecting U.S. workers from automated management and surveillance in the workplace (opens in a new tab)

Reports Mar 12, 2026

Employers are increasingly using electronic and automated tools to collect data on their workers on and off the job and then using that data to inform decisions about workers’ pay,…

Certain AMS contract provisions give workers a better understanding of how technology is used in their workplaces (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Union members who know more about automated management and surveillance in their workplace also report more input over how it is used (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Slightly more workers agree than disagree that they have input over AMS tools used in their workplaces (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Most unionized workers know how automated management and surveillance are utilized in their workplaces (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Certain groups of unionized workers are more likely to have a contract with automated management and surveillance provisions (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Certain contract negotiation strategies are correlated having automated management and surveillance provisions included (opens in a new tab)

Visualizations Mar 12, 2026

Lessons from past trade adjustment policies to support displaced workers in the era of artificial intelligence (opens in a new tab)

Reports Mar 11, 2026

More than 60 years ago, U.S. policymakers, economists, and labor leaders alike agreed that the potential for new economic forces to strengthen U.S. prosperity and security was just over the…

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…

ASSA 2026 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)

Blog Jan 6, 2026

Yesterday was the third and final 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…

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…

Expanding eligibility for Unemployment Insurance helps low-income U.S. workers find better jobs (opens in a new tab)

Essays Dec 9, 2025

Unemployment Insurance serves as a critical income support program for U.S. workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It is also a valuable tool to stabilize…

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.…