September 23, 2024
Toward a Potential Grand Bargain for the Nation
The views expressed in this report are those of the individual authors who collectively constitute the Grand Bargain Committee, co-chaired by Michael R. Strain and Isabel V. Sawhill. This report was sponsored by the Center for Collaborative Democracy and was prepared independent of influence from the center and from any other outside party or institution. It…
September 10, 2024
America is Still Working
Sometimes it seems like Americans can’t decide whether we work too much or too little. We hear that because of rising inequality and a lack of good jobs, workers must toil too many hours at wages too low to support a family. By other accounts, the machines— if not robot overlords, then at least their…
August 1, 2024
Financing Graduate Education: Next Steps for Federal Policy
Key Points Read the full pdf.
July 24, 2024
Housing and the American Worker
As the American Worker Project analysis shows, real wages have increased over time. Real wages are nominal wages corrected for changes in the price level, and a natural approach to understanding the way in which housing policy affects real wages is through (housing) prices. But the importance of housing to the economic well-being of the typical American…
July 23, 2024
How the 2017 Tax Law Made Itemized Charitable Giving a Luxury Good
Key Points Read the PDF. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 included some of the most far-reaching changes to the US income tax code in a generation. In addition to reducing statutory tax rates for individuals and corporations, the law adjusted the tax base. Among its most significant changes to the individual…
June 13, 2024
The Family-to-Prison-or-College Pipeline: Married Fathers and Young Men’s Transition to Adulthood
A growing minority of young men are floundering. “Failure to launch” is a description that’s all too common. Consider working a stable job—a decent proxy for whether someone has their life together. For young men (ages 16-24), labor force participation rates are dropping. In 1980, the share of young men who were looking for or had a…
June 11, 2024
The Social Workplace: A Compendium
Key Points Executive Summary In an era marked by a decline in social capital across American institutions, the workplace has become a crucial arena for fostering social connections. Through their careers, Americans not only satisfy their economic needs but also find personal fulfillment, build social networks, and seek—and often discover—a sense of meaning and purpose…
May 14, 2024
Understanding Trends in Worker Pay over the Past 50 years
Key Points Executive Summary Doomers on the political left and right agree that economic growth has failed to translate into higher wages for American workers, with some claiming that pay has barely risen in 50 years. Such sentiments have been buttressed by flawed analyses that, comparing apples to oranges in a variety of ways, have…
May 10, 2024
A Jumble of Standards: How State and Federal Authorities Have Underestimated Child Maltreatment Fatalities
Key Points Read the full PDF. “There is no standard, mandated reporting system for child abuse or neglect deaths in this country. Definitions, investigative procedures, and reporting requirements vary from state to state. Attributing a child’s death to abuse rather than to an accident or natural cause is often extremely difficult. The death of a…
May 7, 2024
How Zoning Policies Affect the Housing Supply: City of Denver Case Study
Summary:The City of Denver switched to a new zoning code in June 2010. Most areas were upzoned, but some were downzoned. Overall, the policy encouraged housing construction in Denver. Slide deck