Building an Economy for All

Economic growth must be built on the foundation of a strong and secure middle class so that all Americans benefit from growth.

A child holds hands with her father and mother, January 12, 2020. (Getty/The Washington Post/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

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.

Center for American Progress

Improving the Lives of All Americans

Celebrate with us

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

Latest

Compact View

It’s time for local policymakers to cement the Biden administration’s workforce gains In the News

It’s time for local policymakers to cement the Biden administration’s workforce gains

Karla Walter writes in Route Fifty about the need for policymakers to build on the Biden administration’s historic federal infrastructure investments, arguing that one of the best ways to cement these workforce gains is for local jurisdictions to strengthen their job quality standards.

Route Fifty

Karla Walter

Hearing on SEC Overreach: Examining the Need for Reform In the News

Hearing on SEC Overreach: Examining the Need for Reform

Alexandra Thornton testified before the the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Capital Markets to discuss institutional reforms of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Capital Markets.

Alexandra Thornton

North Carolina Wolfspeed Materials Efficient Silicon Carbide Facility Article
President Joe Biden speaks outside of a building at a podium in front of a crowd including construction workers.

North Carolina Wolfspeed Materials Efficient Silicon Carbide Facility

Wolfspeed Silicon Carbide Materials is building a new facility in North Carolina to expand production and become the largest plant using silicon carbide to make semiconductor chips.

Fixing the Brent Spence Bridge Article
President Joe Biden is seen at a podium in front of a river with a bridge in the background.

Fixing the Brent Spence Bridge

This grant provides funding to repair the Brent Spence Bridge between Kentucky and Ohio and to build a new companion bridge.

Arizona Semiconductor Technician Quick Start Program Article
President Joe Biden is seen walking in front of tractors, with an American flag in the background.

Arizona Semiconductor Technician Quick Start Program

This program provides students at Maricopa Community Colleges with the opportunity to become trained as semiconductor technicians.

Cirba Solutions Battery Recycling Plant Article
Stacks of green used electric vehicle batteries sit on the floor of a factory.

Cirba Solutions Battery Recycling Plant

A $74 million investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help Cirba Solutions open and operate a new battery recycling facility.

First Solar Thin Film Research and Development Center Article
A field of solar panels is seen in the middle of the desert.

First Solar Thin Film Research and Development Center

First Solar is spending $450 million to establish a research and development center focused on the production of thin film photovoltaic modules.

Fact Sheet: Building an Economy That Delivers for Women Fact Sheet
A woman pushing a stroller walks through an atrium with light pouring in and a small pool reflecting plant life

Fact Sheet: Building an Economy That Delivers for Women

This fact sheet offers a brief summary of CAP’s “Playbook for the Advancement of Women in the Economy,” which provides federal and state policymakers with the tools they need to center women in their economic plans and grow the economy.

Rose Khattar

What California Can Teach America About How To Increase Housing Production Article
Construction of apartment complex with palm trees in background

What California Can Teach America About How To Increase Housing Production

Recent legislation in California has reduced the legal barriers to producing new housing units—everything from accessory dwelling units to large, multifamily buildings—when local governments fail to zone their communities for adequate housing.

Kevin DeGood

Communities That Lost Manufacturing Jobs Are Main Beneficiaries of Biden Administration’s New Industrial Policy Article
U.S. President Joe Biden thanks the crowd following a speech.

Communities That Lost Manufacturing Jobs Are Main Beneficiaries of Biden Administration’s New Industrial Policy

New analysis finds that private investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act are being announced in the communities that have been hit hardest by disinvestment in American manufacturing.

What Will Be in the Final SEC Climate Disclosure Rule? Article

What Will Be in the Final SEC Climate Disclosure Rule?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s March 2022 climate disclosure proposal provides a roadmap for its upcoming final rule requiring public companies to disclose climate-related information that will help investors make sound investment decisions.

Alexandra Thornton

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