Resources
From peer-reviewed research to accessible policy briefs, explore the scholarship that’s shaping debates and driving change.
1,926 Results
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…
By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)
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,…
By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
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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
New research shows how U.S. homeownership and the accumulation of housing wealth are linked to political participation (opens in a new tab)
Essays AUG 14, 2026
Persistent affordability pressures have driven up housing costs for millions of U.S. families in recent years. Home prices remain near record highs relative to incomes, mortgage rates and associated costs…
By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-Leon (opens in a new tab)
Housing Wealth Accumulation and Electoral Representation (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers AUG 14, 2026
We document that housing wealth accumulation systematically differs among homeowners by their political participation. Using a nationwide voter-property dataset, we find that realized housing appreciation increases monotonically the more a…
By: Carlos F. Avenancio-León, Yutao He (opens in a new tab), Michael Reher (opens in a new tab)
Defining extreme wealth is more complicated than it looks (opens in a new tab)
Videos AUG 13, 2026
Facing high levels of income and wealth inequality and shrinking tax revenues, U.S. policymakers are showing increased interest in proposals to tax the richest households. Yet determining which households fall into that category is complex and changes based…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Neil Cholli (opens in a new tab), Derek Wu (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Neil A. Cholli, Derek Wu (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Lily Roberts (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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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
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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
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Personal Income is now declining year-over-year, a possible warning sign for the economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2026
U.S. income data for 2024 shows the top 10 percent accrued the highest share of income since 2000 (opens in a new tab)
Essays JUN 25, 2026
Today, Equitable Growth updated the U.S. Inequality Tracker through 2024 following the release of new data last week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data show that the…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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U.S. income shares changed little due to the pandemic, with top decile and bottom half households making gains (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 24, 2026
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In a reversal of 21st century trends, wages grew faster for lower-income U.S. households in the pandemic era (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 24, 2026
Factsheet: Defining top U.S. income and wealth thresholds for tax policy (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets MAY 27, 2026
Federal and state policymakers in the United States, responding to high levels of income and wealth inequality and shrinking tax revenues, are increasingly interested in proposals to tax households with…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
Defining top wealth and income thresholds for U.S. tax policy design and analysis (opens in a new tab)
Reports MAY 27, 2026
Wealth and income inequality are an ongoing area of interest for policymakers. In particular, the rise of the richest of the rich—not just the top 1 percent, but also the…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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Realized capital gains are highly volatile, leading to large swings in the top 0.1% U.S. income thresholds (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 26, 2026
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…
By: Casey McQuillan (opens in a new tab), Brendan Moore (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jacob Robbins (opens in a new tab)
The U.S. public is angry about economic conditions, and the middle class is losing ground. Are these trends connected? (opens in a new tab)
Essays MAY 14, 2026
A random sample of recent headlines likely would yield two fairly common stories about the U.S. economy. One is that the public is angry about the economy and the other…
By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
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Real U.S. income gains have been falling for successive generations (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 13, 2026
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U.S. income growth for the middle class slowed substantially in the past four decades (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 13, 2026
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Income growth rates used to be similar along the income distribution, but that changed in the 1980s (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 13, 2026
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The middle is further from the top than it used to be—and the gap is growing (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 13, 2026
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U.S. income at the middle is growing and is higher today than it used to be (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 13, 2026
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…
By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
Why the Iran war is bad for U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Essays APR 23, 2026
The growth trajectory of the U.S. economy is highly dependent on its connections to the outside world through trade and investments, as well as foreign policy and geopolitical developments. That…
By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
Research on climate change’s impact on U.S. workers underscores the benefits of workplace heat standards (opens in a new tab)
Essays APR 22, 2026
This year’s Earth Day follows a record-breaking heat wave across much of the East Coast, which followed a record-breaking heat wave that took hold in much of the West and…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)
Research-based perspectives on the connection between economic policy and rising support for authoritarian populism (opens in a new tab)
Essays MAR 19, 2026
In 2025, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth began to explore the evidence behind a link between the effects of economic policies and global support for authoritarian populist candidates for…
By: Melissa Grober-Morrow (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jacob Leibenluft (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)
The state of the U.S. economy one year into the second Trump administration (opens in a new tab)
Essays FEB 23, 2026
President Donald Trump will soon give his annual State of the Union speech before Congress, one year into his second term in the White House. Ahead of his remarks, now…
By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Ilaria D’Angelis (opens in a new tab), Keren Horn (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Ilaria D’Angelis (opens in a new tab), Keren Horn (opens in a new tab)
Analyzing recent U.S. economic policies using Equitable Growth’s Inequality Tracker (opens in a new tab)
Essays JAN 22, 2026
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Inequality Tracker is a data visualization tool designed to help policymakers and economic analysts examine and analyze U.S. income and wealth inequality in the…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth event highlights the path forward to rebuild the U.S. administrative state (opens in a new tab)
Videos DEC 17, 2025
Microsoft Copilot helped draft this column. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth recently convened scholars, practitioners, and advocates for an Equitable Growth Presents event, titled “Reimagining the Federal Government: Building…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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,…
By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)
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.…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Uncertainty created by ever-changing tariff policies harms U.S. economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Essays NOV 20, 2025
The approaches to international trade taken by the first and now second Trump administrations have been an endless jumble of tariff negotiations and ever-changing policies. Since 2018, duties have been…
By: Nirupama Rao (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation with Sabeel Rahman (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation NOV 18, 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…
By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Daniel Acland (opens in a new tab)
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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…
By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
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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
Workplace exposure to artificial intelligence is higher among U.S. workers with higher wages, depending on how AI is used (opens in a new tab)
Essays OCT 23, 2025
Recent advances using artificial intelligence in workplaces, particularly large language models such as Claude.ai and ChatGPT, are increasingly disrupting the U.S. labor market. The cognitive power of AI has the…
By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab), Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
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AI exposure is greatest among higher-paid workers regardless of age, race and education status (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 22, 2025
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Asian American and highly educated workers are most exposed to AI (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 22, 2025
Equitable Growth supports scholars studying the economics of the energy transition (opens in a new tab)
Essays OCT 22, 2025
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees. These nine scholars will study how the design and implementation of federal policy influences how businesses and…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Rethinking U.S. economic mobility to study change within a generation (opens in a new tab)
Essays OCT 9, 2025
When most people think about intergenerational mobility, they often assume it unfolds gradually over long periods of time. Historical patterns have reinforced this perception, shaping a widespread belief that meaningful…
By: Raven Shaw (opens in a new tab)
Changing Opportunity: Sociological Mechanisms Underlying Growing Class Gaps and Shrinking Race Gaps in Economic Mobility (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers OCT 9, 2025
We show that intergenerational mobility changed rapidly by race and class in recent decades and use these trends to study the causal mechanisms underlying changes in economic mobility. For white…
By: Raj Chetty (opens in a new tab), Will Dobbie (opens in a new tab), Benjamin Goldman (opens in a new tab), Sonya R. Porter, Crystal S. Yang
The status of U.S. labor market data amid the government shutdown (opens in a new tab)
Essays OCT 3, 2025
The federal government ground to a halt earlier this week as Congress was unable to reach a bipartisan agreement on continuing funding after annual appropriations ran out at the end…
By: Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab), Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
Federal data is under attack, but data users can work together to preserve and democratize it (opens in a new tab)
Essays OCT 1, 2025
Staffing shortages, political interference, and a federal government shutdown are all disrupting the routine operations of the nonpartisan federal statistical agencies that reliably gather facts and publish data about the…
By: Peter Norlander (opens in a new tab)
Extracting O*NET Features from the NLx Corpus to Build Public Use Aggregate Labor Market Data (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers OCT 1, 2025
Data from online job postings are difficult to access and are not built in a standard or transparent manner. Data included in the standard taxonomy and occupational information database (O*NET)…
By: Stephen Meisenbacher (opens in a new tab), Svetlozar Nestorov (opens in a new tab), Peter Norlander (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Sanjay Supan (opens in a new tab)
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,…
By: Tanya Byker (opens in a new tab), Elena Patel (opens in a new tab), Kristin Smith (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth announces funding for research on the impact of AI on U.S. workers and competition (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 18, 2025
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees studying how artificial intelligence and new technology can support workers and promote competition across the U.S. economy.…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Populist voters feel a sense of loss that is reshaping democracies around the world (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 11, 2025
Across Europe, populist parties—once relegated to the political fringe—are now mainstays of national politics. Some are even winning power in the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Austria, and beyond. Whether left-wing or…
By: Justin Gest (opens in a new tab)
Threats to social status and support for far-right political parties (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 11, 2025
Once on the political fringes, far-right parties have become established actors in many democracies. The European Parliament election in 2024, for example, resulted in far-right parties receiving more than 20…
By: Tarik Abou-Chadi (opens in a new tab)
A place-based economic development strategy to foster rural U.S. prosperity (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 11, 2025
Whether one lives in a city of 2 million people or a town of 2,000, we all want to live in healthy and thriving communities, to have the chance to…
By: Gbenga Ajilore (opens in a new tab)
How U.S. tax policies have fueled right-wing populism (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 11, 2025
Among the many factors fueling support for right-wing populism in the United States is federal tax policies. The nation’s tax system confuses, frustrates, and angers many citizens in ways that…
By: Andrea Louise Campbell (opens in a new tab)
To restore democracy, end shareholder primacy at U.S. corporations and on Wall Street (opens in a new tab)
Essays SEP 11, 2025
Workers in the United States have no say over business decisions made in their workplaces by corporate America. Unions, of course, are important for workers’ ability to exercise power over…
By: Lenore Palladino (opens in a new tab)
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The overall U.S. tax system today is only mildly progressive (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 10, 2025
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Racially resentful White Americans are more opposed to progressive taxation (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 9, 2025
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Almost half of rural U.S. counties are at risk or distressed (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 8, 2025
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Unemployment risk significantly affects the probability of voting for the far right (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 5, 2025
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Europe’s far-left and far-right parties have room to grow in the future (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 4, 2025
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Eastern European nations are far more vulnerable to right-wing populist appeals (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 4, 2025
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Nostalgic deprivation is widespread among citizens of European nations (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations SEP 4, 2025
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…
By: Laura Brugger (opens in a new tab), Shadonna Davis (opens in a new tab), Desha Elliott (opens in a new tab), Leah Hamilton (opens in a new tab), Stephen Roll (opens in a new tab), Latrice Rollins (opens in a new tab), Simone Smith (opens in a new tab), Aaron Quick (opens in a new tab), Naomi Zewde (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth awards funding to early career scholars studying the effects of economic inequality (opens in a new tab)
Essays AUG 20, 2025
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth announced today that it has awarded funding to seven scholars seeking to better understand the effects of economic inequality in the United States and…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
What is austerity, and how does it affect the broader U.S. economy? (opens in a new tab)
Reports AUG 12, 2025
With the passage into law of the Republican budget reconciliation bill last month and the recent work of the Department of Government Efficiency under Elon Musk, austerity is once again…
By: Ernie Tedeschi (opens in a new tab), Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
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Cutting government transfer programs has broad effects on the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 12, 2025
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Cutting government transfer programs has broad effects on the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 12, 2025
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The economic effects of austerity policies under a nonreactive Federal Reserve – Final (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 12, 2025
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The economic effects of austerity policies under a reactive Federal Reserve (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 12, 2025
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Recessions coincide with periods of higher policy uncertainty – updated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 7, 2025
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States dependent on federal grants tend to be poorer or more rural (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 7, 2025
Why Financial Crises Recur (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers AUG 5, 2025
Financial crises have occurred around the world for over two centuries. These crises have been so costly and frequent that one wonders why governments cannot prevent them from recurring despite…
By: Gary B. Gorton (opens in a new tab), Jeffery Y. Zhang (opens in a new tab)
Accounting for capital gains in income significantly increases U.S. inequality (opens in a new tab)
Blog JUL 15, 2025
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s recently launched U.S. Inequality Tracker uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to show how income and wealth inequality have evolved in…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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With capital gains, the share of income earned by the wealthiest households went up 5 percentage points since 2002 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUL 14, 2025
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Pure capital gains are highly volatile and can turn negative in recessions (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUL 14, 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…
By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)
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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
Slow wage growth is the key to understanding U.S. inequality in the 21st century (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs JUL 8, 2025
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today launched the U.S. Inequality Tracker, which tracks income and wealth inequality in the United States and highlights how particular components of income and…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act disproportionately harms lower-income Americans (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUL 3, 2025
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Wages have grown much slower in the 21st century than in previous eras of the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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Wages have grown relatively similarly across income deciles, while business and asset income is strongly skewed to the wealthiest households (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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Wages are the slowest-growing component of U.S. income for households across the income distribution (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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Wages and government transfers are the primary source of income for most U.S. households (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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The upper-middle class has lost income share, while low-income and extremely wealthy households have grown their share of income (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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U.S. inequality has decreased slightly since 2000, with the upper-middle class seeing the weakest gains (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 2025
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U.S. income inequality dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to pre-pandemic levels by 2023 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 25, 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…
By: Jacob S. Hacker, Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)
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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…
By: Robert Manduca (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Robert Manduca (opens in a new tab)
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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
Factsheet: U.S. economic mobility and policies to increase upward mobility (opens in a new tab)
Factsheets JUN 17, 2025
The United States often has been touted as a land of opportunity, where hard work leads to success and children do better than their parents. But increasingly, these notions of…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab), Melissa Grober-Morrow (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Alex Bell (opens in a new tab)
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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
U.S. labor market data reveal that different job characteristics contribute to the gender wage gap (opens in a new tab)
Essays JUN 5, 2025
In 2003, women in the United States earned on average approximately 80 percent as much as U.S. men did per hour. By 2024, the gender pay gap had grown to…
By: Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)
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Returns to job characteristics impact the gender wage gap, but these returns have changed over time (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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Different work activities affect wages for U.S. women and men differently, and these effects have changed over time (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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Different skills affect wages for U.S. women and men differently, and these effects have changed over time (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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The gender gaps in the importance of job characteristics have not changed much since 2003 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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U.S. employment is now less concentrated in male-dominated jobs than it was in 2003 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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The U.S. hourly gender wage gap has narrowed since 2003 – updated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
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Different abilities affect wages for U.S. women and men differently, and these effects have changed over time – updated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JUN 4, 2025
Equitable Growth event brings together scholars and the policy community to discuss the rise of right-wing populism and the future of economic policy (opens in a new tab)
Videos MAY 29, 2025
This article was drafted with assistance from Perplexity AI. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth in mid-May hosted an event on “The rise of populism and the future of economic…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Adam Dean (opens in a new tab), Jamie McCallum (opens in a new tab)
Federal and state governments can help solve the employment problems of people in distressed places to spur equitable growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
Places in the United States differ greatly in their residents’ access to jobs, including access to good jobs. In economically distressed places, these job problems can be addressed by creating…
By: Timothy Bartik (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jonathan Cohen (opens in a new tab), Katherine Cramer (opens in a new tab)
Understanding the role of immigration and economic factors in boosting support for far-right political parties (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
Far-right and right-wing populist political parties differ in many respects, but nearly all share one common thread: strong opposition to immigration. These parties often push for stricter border controls and,…
By: Sirus H. Dehdari (opens in a new tab)
America’s job-quality crisis and how to revive workers’ pay, dignity, job advancement, and economic well-being (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
The poor quality of jobs in the United States is a slow-burning crisis that has been underway for many decades and has eroded many workers’ quality of life. Too many…
By: Erin Kelly (opens in a new tab)
How the China trade shock impacted U.S. manufacturing workers and labor markets, and the consequences for U.S. politics (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
In the early 2000s, manufacturing-intensive communities in the United States entered a period of economic upheaval that would reshape their labor markets over the next two decades. China’s dramatic rise…
By: David Autor (opens in a new tab), David Dorn (opens in a new tab), Gordon Hanson (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jamila Michener (opens in a new tab)
Countering right-wing populism: Identifying its cultural roots and charting a path forward (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election set off an animated debate among Democrats over what went wrong with their policymaking, messaging, and campaigning. Specifically, Democrats puzzled over…
By: Yotam Margalit (opens in a new tab)
How the economic and political geography of the United States fuels right-wing populism—and what the Democratic Party can do about it (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 13, 2025
In wealthy nations around the world, the rise of the knowledge economy has increased political and economic divides that fuel right-wing populism. These divides generally have a strong geographic dimension,…
By: Jacob Hacker (opens in a new tab), Paul Pierson (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
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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
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The China trade shock caused a steep decline in manufacturing employment in trade-exposed local labor markets in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 8, 2025
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The China trade shock’s effect on total U.S. employment and the employment-to-population ratio in the first two decades the 21st century (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 8, 2025
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The China trade shock increased places’ employment in retail, health care, and education in the first two decades of the 21st century (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 8, 2025
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The China trade shock increased places’ employment in low-paying jobs in the first two decades of the 21st century (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 8, 2025
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U.S.-born White noncollege men lost labor market share in trade-shocked places in the first two decades of the 21st century (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 8, 2025
Testimony by Michael Linden before the House Budget Committee (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 8, 2025
Chairman Arrington, Ranking Member Boyle, members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Today, I’d like to make three main points. First, the main culprit responsible…
By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
Why do some jobs pay better than others? Think about what workers do. (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs MAY 6, 2025
Most U.S. labor market data characterize jobs by describing the categories of industry and occupation to which the jobs belong. But to understand why some types of jobs tend to…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab), Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab), Christopher Bangert-Drowns (opens in a new tab)
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Professional licenses and telework are more common in occupations in which actual wages exceed wages predicted by job-content measures (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 6, 2025
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Visualizations MAY 6, 2025
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Visualizations MAY 6, 2025
Designing economic policy that strengthens U.S. democracy and incorporates people’s lived experiences (opens in a new tab)
Videos APR 30, 2025
Around the globe, people are increasingly dissatisfied with the state of democratic capitalism. In the United States and other rich democracies, economic policy has too often in recent decades produced…
By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab), Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)
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European democracies have seen a surge of support for right-wing populism in the past decade (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations APR 29, 2025
Advancing economic research on the Inflation Reduction Act: Q&A with Heather Boushey (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs APR 23, 2025
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the most significant economic and clean energy jobs program the United States has ever initiated. To improve overall understanding of whether the new…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Megan Rivera (opens in a new tab)
Request for Proposals: The economic effects of the Inflation Reduction Act (opens in a new tab)
RFPs APR 2, 2025
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
The qualified small business stock exclusion overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and should be reformed in 2025 (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs APR 1, 2025
This year’s debate over the expiring personal income and estate tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides an opportunity for reforming the qualified small business stock…
By: Jean Ross (opens in a new tab)
What makes a job ‘good’? How U.S. labor market data can provide insight to improve workers’ economic conditions (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAR 26, 2025
Since the Great Recession of 2007–2009, a great deal of U.S. economic policymaking has been dedicated to creating jobs. The tools used to do so vary widely, from awarding grants…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab), Chiara Chanoi (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Priyanka Anand (opens in a new tab), Robert Moffitt (opens in a new tab)
As the U.S. labor market stabilizes, is nominal wage growth now too hot? (opens in a new tab)
Blog FEB 13, 2025
After the tumultuous swings of the early COVID-19 pandemic period and years of normalization since then, economic data from the past several months suggest that the U.S. labor market may…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
Benchmarking the U.S. economy that President Donald Trump is set to inherit (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs JAN 16, 2025
When President Donald Trump takes the presidential oath of office again on January 20, he will be inheriting a very different economy, with a very different outlook, than the one…
By: Ernie Tedeschi (opens in a new tab)
Pro-growth tax reform in 2025 would boost the U.S. economy for years to come (opens in a new tab)
Videos JAN 15, 2025
In the aftermath of the presidential election in 2024, it’s clear that many Americans feel like the U.S. economy is not working for them. Even though policymakers on both sides…
By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Accelerating research can help fill the AI knowledge gaps for U.S. policymakers (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs DEC 17, 2024
It is hard for policymakers to ignore today’s “AI arms race” and the public debate on the economic and social significance of generative artificial intelligence. The discourse is fueled in…
By: Rohini Kosoglu (opens in a new tab), Christian Edlagan (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)
Request for Proposals: Promoting competition and supporting workers in an era of AI innovation (opens in a new tab)
RFPs NOV 20, 2024
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
The U.S. labor market keeps beating projections (opens in a new tab)
Blog NOV 5, 2024
No single economic indicator fully describes the state of the U.S. labor market. Yet a range of commonly used measures, from the unemployment rate and the prime-age employment-population ratio to…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
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U.S. unemployment remains below projections despite recent participation-driven increases (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations NOV 5, 2024
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U.S. labor force participation continues to be strong despite demographic headwinds (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations NOV 5, 2024
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U.S. payroll employment has surpassed CBO projections (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations NOV 5, 2024
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The U.S. labor market has cooled since last year but remains strong (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations NOV 4, 2024
Request for proposals: Research grants for early career scholars (opens in a new tab)
RFPs OCT 30, 2024
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Allowing the 2017 estate tax changes to expire will reduce U.S. inequality and promote economic growth and opportunity (opens in a new tab)
Reports OCT 9, 2024
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made deep cuts to the personal income, estate, and corporate income taxes that were costly and heavily skewed toward the very wealthy. The…
By: Jean Ross (opens in a new tab)
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The number of U.S. taxable estates has declined due to the larger estate tax exemption (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 8, 2024
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Under current U.S. law, high-income earners pay most of the federal estate tax (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 8, 2024
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U.S. wealth disparities have widened substantially over the past 35 years (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 8, 2024
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Wealth is more concentrated in the United States than in other economically advanced nations (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 8, 2024
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A majority of assets are owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations OCT 8, 2024
Equitable Growth renews collective bargaining agreement with Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (opens in a new tab)
Blog OCT 7, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth has renewed its 3-year collective bargaining agreement with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union IFPTE Local 70. The agreement, which was signed on August 23,…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
New data show significant changes in racial and class mobility gaps in the United States (opens in a new tab)
Blog SEP 19, 2024
Past research shows that differences in intergenerational mobility between Black and White Americans have persisted since the 1880s. Current racial economic mobility gaps are rooted in historical discriminatory policies, such…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Shira Markoff (opens in a new tab)
Early career scholars to receive Equitable Growth funding to study economic inequality (opens in a new tab)
Blog AUG 28, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new slate of grantees. These 10 scholars responded to a Request for Proposals specifically targeted at those early in their careers…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth invests in new research to better understand the effects of the fiscal response to the COVID-19 recession (opens in a new tab)
Blog AUG 28, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees in response to a Request for Proposals on the effectiveness of the fiscal response to the COVID-19…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
New labor market data suggest that U.S. wage growth may be cooling too much (opens in a new tab)
Blog AUG 6, 2024
After increasing rapidly over the course of 2021, nominal wage growth (before accounting for inflation) in the United States has been trending down consistently across measures since early- to mid-2022.…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
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Real wage growth has been slow for much of the past 50 years (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 6, 2024
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There is little upward pressure on bottom half of U.S. wage growth (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 6, 2024
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When churn is lower, nominal wage growth tends to be lower (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 6, 2024
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Nominal wage growth and inflation have declined since 2022 (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations AUG 6, 2024
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
New federal heat standard offers novel distributional analysis to determine which workers benefit and how (opens in a new tab)
Blog JUL 16, 2024
The U.S. Department of Labor recently released a much-anticipated proposed rule that promises to protect workers from on-the-job injuries and deaths that result from toiling in the heat. The timing…
By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)
The new Labor Department overtime rule is a win for workers—and good policy, too (opens in a new tab)
Blog JUL 8, 2024
On July 1, the first step of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime rule went into effect, meaning about 1 million salaried, white-collar workers currently exempt from overtime began…
By: Janelle Jones (opens in a new tab), Rajesh Nayak (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
On Juneteenth: New research demonstrates how economic mobility is restricted for Black Americans (opens in a new tab)
Blog JUN 18, 2024
On June 19, 1865, emancipation was officially declared in the state of Texas, more than two full years after the Emancipation Proclamation and more than two full months after the…
By: Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth’s new Nonresident Scholars have a long history of rigorous economic research (opens in a new tab)
Videos JUN 11, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today launched our new Nonresident Scholars program. This is our latest way of connecting academics to policymakers to ensure public policy debates are grounded…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation with Miles Corak (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation JUN 6, 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…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
A researcher’s guide to identifying policy-relevant research questions for the federal government (opens in a new tab)
Essays MAY 30, 2024
Social science researchers play an important role in the policymaking process. Researchers help policymakers at all levels of government to understand key trends and issues in the U.S. economy and…
By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Research on Tap event highlights the impact of AI, climate change, and racial inequality on the U.S. economy (opens in a new tab)
Videos MAY 23, 2024
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth on May 21 hosted its marquee event, “Research on Tap: Three Forces Shaping the 2024 Economy,” at the National Union Building in Washington, DC.…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
What is going on with wage growth in the United States? (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 16, 2024
Fast wage growth is a key feature of a strong labor market. U.S. workers, and low-wage workers in particular, experienced exceptional wage growth over the past couple of years, which…
By: Kevin Rinz (opens in a new tab)
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Wage gains associated with changing jobs have declined over the past year (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 16, 2024
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The U.S. labor market has cooled slightly over the past year (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 16, 2024
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Job openings and labor turnover survey data point to a more stable U.S. labor market (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 16, 2024
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Wage growth has slowed more for lower-range workers but remains faster than usual (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 16, 2024
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Wage growth is slowing across a range of measures (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAY 16, 2024
Equitable Growth Insights: Synthesizing economic mobility research (opens in a new tab)
Research Databases MAY 15, 2024
Equitable Growth’s Insights newsletter on U.S. economic mobility is a quarterly newsletter that synthesizes research from academia, journalism, and the nonprofit sector. Each edition seeks to distill insights from research…
Equitable Growth delivers letter on proposed IRS rule to expand data sharing with the U.S. Department of Commerce (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 15, 2024
On April 29, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth delivered a comment letter responding to a proposed rule from the Internal Revenue Service that would expand the amount of administrative…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
U.S. workers, generative AI, and the future of work (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 9, 2024
The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 captured the world’s attention and illustrated the potential of generative Artificial Intelligence to instantly perform tasks long considered quintessentially “human.” Already, the technology…
By: Molly Kinder (opens in a new tab)
Structural changes in the U.S. economy highlight anew the gray areas of continued racial bias and discrimination in American workplaces (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 8, 2024
Four years after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by three city police officers and the Black Lives Matter movement led large-scale protests across the country, workplaces across the U.S.…
By: Adia Harvey Wingfield (opens in a new tab)
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,…
By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)
New workplace surveillance bill would protect U.S. workers and address new technological risks (opens in a new tab)
Blog MAY 2, 2024
Across the U.S. economy, the risks posed by unchecked automated surveillance and management technologies are widespread—and growing. These technologies can sometimes be beneficial for workers, customers, and businesses alike. For…
By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)
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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
New recommendations for an integrated system of U.S. inequality statistics chart a bold path forward (opens in a new tab)
Blog APR 23, 2024
A new report from the National Academy of Science’s Committee on National Statistics is packed with recommendations for building an integrated system of national statistics that can provide accurate and…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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Children from higher-wealth families are more upwardly mobile (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations APR 19, 2024
An Unemployment Insurance modernization bill now before the U.S. Senate is a much-needed step in the right direction (opens in a new tab)
Blog APR 9, 2024
The nearly 90-year-old federal-state Unemployment Insurance program provides much-needed relief to unemployed workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and helps to stabilize the U.S. economy…
By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab)
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Higher UI benefits during recessions have mostly come from ad-hoc congressional allocations, not the Extended Benefits system (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations APR 5, 2024
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Workers of color tend to be concentrated in states with less generous UI benefits (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations APR 5, 2024
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States vary enormously in the percent of unemployed workers who receive benefits and the size of benefits (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations APR 5, 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…
By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jonathan Fisher (opens in a new tab), Jake Schild (opens in a new tab), David S. Johnson
U.S. economic mobility trends and outcomes (opens in a new tab)
Reports MAR 29, 2024
A research update Fast facts Critical to the promise of the American dream is the expectation of intergenerational mobility. Invoked in ubiquitous phrases such as “pulling oneself up by the…
By: Hiba Haroon (opens in a new tab), Shaun Harrison (opens in a new tab)
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During the pandemic, White workers were far more likely to receive Unemployment Insurance benefits than other workers (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
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Backlash to the Great Migration reduced Black upward mobility in northern U.S. cities (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
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Historically, there has been an inverse relationship between union density and income inequality in the United Sates (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
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White and Asian American children in the bottom half of the socioeconomic status are more likely to move up than their peers of color (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
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Racial gaps in income and net worth are large even at similar levels of education (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
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Maternal mortality rose for all race and ethnic groups during the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations MAR 28, 2024
In Conversation with Sasha Killewald (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation MAR 27, 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…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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.…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Michael Linden (opens in a new tab)
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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…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
New Circular A-4 offers opportunities for researchers interested in disaggregating the costs and benefits of U.S. regulations (opens in a new tab)
Blog FEB 1, 2024
This column is adapted from remarks I made at the Allied Social Sciences Associations 2024 annual meeting, held earlier this year in San Antonio, Texas, as part of a panel…
By: David S. Mitchell (opens in a new tab)
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Distributional weighting in regulatory cost-benefit analysis reflects state of the science and would even the playing field for low-income Americans (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JAN 31, 2024
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The Biden administration’s new regulatory cost-benefit guidelines encourage agencies to better account for inequality (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JAN 31, 2024
In Conversation with Timothy Smeeding (opens in a new tab)
In Conversation JAN 16, 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…
By: Jonathan Fisher (opens in a new tab)
Statement on the passing of Nobel laureate Robert Solow (opens in a new tab)
Blog JAN 11, 2024
A founding member of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Steering Committee, Solow was also a longtime partner and advisor to the organization Robert Solow, the Nobel laureate and longtime…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
New research doesn’t overturn consensus on rising U.S. income inequality (opens in a new tab)
Issue Briefs JAN 10, 2024
New research from Gerald Auten at the U.S. Treasury Department and David Splinter at the U.S. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation makes the counter-to-conventional-wisdom claim that U.S. income inequality has…
By: Austin Clemens (opens in a new tab)
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Auten and Splinter assign more and more in-kind transfers to the bottom 50 percent’s income (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JAN 9, 2024
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Fiscal income, the income that is visible in individual tax data, has become much more concentrated (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JAN 9, 2024
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Auten and Splinter find lower levels of top 1% income share over time when compared to Piketty, Saez, and Zucman (opens in a new tab)
Visualizations JAN 9, 2024
ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 3 (opens in a new tab)
Blog JAN 8, 2024
Yesterday was the third and final day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 2 (opens in a new tab)
Blog JAN 7, 2024
Yesterday was the second day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
ASSA 2024 Round-up: Day 1 (opens in a new tab)
Blog JAN 6, 2024
Yesterday was the first day of the 2024 annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations, which is organized by the American Economic Association. The 3-day conference, held in person…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Equitable Growth announces new Steering Committee members to guide grantmaking and shape research priorities (opens in a new tab)
Videos DEC 7, 2023
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced five new members of its Steering Committee. Daron Acemoglu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Trevon Logan of The Ohio State University,…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Request for proposals: Research grants for early career scholars (opens in a new tab)
RFPs NOV 30, 2023
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers NOV 20, 2023
Using data from nearly 1.2 million Black SAT takers, we estimate the impacts of initially enrolling in an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) on educational, economic, and financial outcomes.…
By: Ashley Edwards (opens in a new tab), Justin Ortagus (opens in a new tab), Jonathan Smith (opens in a new tab), Andria Smythe (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Alix Gould-Werth (opens in a new tab)
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.…
By: Jason Cook (opens in a new tab), Chloe N. East
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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.…
By: Sam Abbott (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
Strong unions push firms to reduce riskier debt, lowering risks of unemployment for U.S. workers (opens in a new tab)
Blog SEP 27, 2023
Unionization efforts and labor organizing are increasingly ubiquitous in the United States. Indeed, July 2023 was one of the busiest months for strikes in 30 years, following two years of…
By: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-Leon (opens in a new tab), Alessio Piccolo (opens in a new tab), Roberto Pinto (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Shayna Strom (opens in a new tab)
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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
Equitable Growth announces new round of grantmaking exploring the connection between policy and economic growth (opens in a new tab)
Blog AUG 31, 2023
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced its 2023 cohort of grantees, an impressive group of researchers from across academic disciplines who are studying how inequality affects economic growth…
By: Equitable Growth (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Sam Kenney (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Jesus Torres (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Sullivan Anderson (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Brandon Enriquez (opens in a new tab), Damon Jones (opens in a new tab), Ernest V. Tedeschi
Disparities in Pollution Capitalization Rates: The Role of Direct and Systemic Discrimination (opens in a new tab)
Working Papers JUL 20, 2023
We examine how exogenous changes in exposure to air pollution over the past two decades have altered the disparities in home values between Black and White homeowners. We find that…
By: Joshua S. Graff Zivin, Gregor Singer (opens in a new tab)
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…
By: Daphné Skandalis (opens in a new tab), Ioana Marinescu (opens in a new tab), Maxim Massenkoff (opens in a new tab)
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.…
By: Daphné Skandalis (opens in a new tab), Ioana Marinescu (opens in a new tab), Maxim Massenkoff (opens in a new tab)
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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
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