Building an Economy for All
Economic growth must be built on the foundation of a strong and secure middle class so that all Americans, not just those at the top, benefit from growth.
What We're Working On
What We're Doing
Investing in a stronger and more equitable economy
We must continue to invest in research, technology, and innovation in a manner that ensures participation and benefits communities that are too often left behind. Only through such an approach can the United States remain at the cutting edge in an increasingly competitive global market.
Strengthening worker power and economic mobility
We need to increase wages, reduce poverty among working families, increase worker power, and create pathways to economic mobility for all.
Raising the floor for basic living standards
Working toward a stronger and more equitable economy for everyone involves rebuilding, expanding, and strengthening America’s social safety net to make it more comprehensive in eligibility and services as well as more flexible in how it can be accessed and used.
Creating a new social compact with business
A new social compact with business includes a regulatory vision that better aligns investors, companies, and the public interest on critical matters such as climate, workers’ rights, and equality.
By the numbers
60M
The families of more than 60 million children have received CTC monthly payments since July 2021.
CAP, “Making the CTC and EITC Expansions Permanent Would Reduce Poverty and Grow the Economy” (2021).
$100
In 32 states, a typical family would save more than $100 per week on child care under the Build Back Better Act.
CAP, “The Build Back Better Act Would Greatly Lower Families’ Child Care Costs” (2021).
$22.5B
In a year, workers and their families lose $22.5 billion in wages due to lack of access to paid family and medical leave.
CAP, “A Real Recovery for Women Cannot Happen Without the Build Back Better Agenda” (2021).
$3.6T
The Build Back Better Act would raise $3.6 trillion in revenue to support investments in an inclusive, high-growth economy.
CAP, “Addressing Tax System Failings That Favor Billionaires and Corporations” (2021).
What You Can Do
Recent work
Q&A With CAP’s New Senior Vice President for Education, Jesse O’Connell
Guns and Violence Against Women: A Summary of Key Challenges and Solutions
Comment on Georgia Access Model Section 1332 Waiver
Education Policies Need To Address the Unique Needs of Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities
Latest
Federal Financial Aid for College Students With Criminal Convictions
A timeline from the 1960s to the present shows that college students with criminal convictions have lost more access to financial aid than they have gained.
Interactive: The First 100 Days
This interactive database features nearly 250 recommendations that the next administration can advance, adopt, and implement within the first 100 days to set the country on a path toward a more progressive national security approach.
The Cost of Child Care During the Coronavirus Pandemic
States can use this interactive calculator to estimate the increased cost of providing child care that meets coronavirus guidelines.
‘Blinking Red’: A Running Timeline of How the Trump Administration Ignored Warnings, Misled the Public, and Made the Coronavirus Crisis Worse
This interactive timeline presents the important details about what Trump and his administration have and haven’t done about the coronavirus pandemic—every ignored warning; every needless, wasteful fight; and every tragic misstep they try to spin into success.
Affordable Care Act Repeal by State
This interactive allows users to see the harms that would result if the Affordable Care Act were repealed, with data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Interactive: Opportunities for States To Improve Infant Health Outcomes
This interactive allows users to see states' progress toward implementing policies to improve maternal and infant mortality and eliminate racial disparities in health across three domains: healthy families, economic and work supports, and infant health outcomes.
Interactive: Exploring Infant Health Outcomes Across Race and Ethnicity and by State
This interactive allows users to view the most recent available data on infant health outcomes across states and compare demographic groups to see how outcomes differ by race and ethnicity.
What Women Need: An Agenda to Move Women and Families Forward
The next president should move quickly to advance key priorities for women and their families.
365 Harms: The Trump Administration’s Record on People of Color
Time and time again, the Trump administration’s policies and practices have negatively affected communities of color across the United States.
Interactive: A 100 Percent Clean Future
Strategies for building a net-zero economy in just three decades.