Publications
The Hamilton Project produces and commissions policy proposals and analyses to promote broad-based economic growth by embracing a significant role for well-designed government policies and public investment.
Economic Facts
Seven economic facts about prime-age labor force participation
This set of economic facts takes stock of the labor market through May 2025, paying particular attention to prime-age labor force participation.
Employment & Wages
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Posts
Proposed SNAP cuts would permanently undermine recession readiness and responsiveness
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
Tax Policy & Budget
Posts
Will the reconciliation bill’s Child Tax Credit changes leave out children in low-income working families?
Economic Security & Inequality
Tax Policy & Budget
Posts
Work requirements penalize workers in volatile occupations
Employment & Wages
Social Insurance
Tax Policy & Budget
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Reforming non-competes to support workers
Firms use non-competes widely in order to minimize recruiting costs, safeguard investments, and protect intellectual property more easily than is achieved via …
Revitalizing wage growth: Policies to get American workers a raise
One simple question—are wages rising?—is as central to the health of our democracy as it is to the health of our economy. This book presents evidence and analy…
Strengthening labor standards and institutions to promote wage growth
For most of the period since the 1970s the United States has suffered from two trends: stagnant wages for most workers and rising inequality. In this paper, He…
The importance of strong labor demand
By conventional measures, the U.S. job market has suffered some degree of slack for about 70 percent of the time since 1980. The absence of persistent, strong …
How declining dynamism affects wages
Wages have stagnated in recent decades for typical workers. While a number of economic, policy, and technological developments bear some responsibility, econom…
Returning to education: The Hamilton Project on human capital and wages
Human capital is central to raising wages. This framing paper describes trends in human capital investment and educational attainment, and reviews the evidence…
The average American worker did not get much of a raise last year
On January 30, 2018, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address. In his speech, President Trump highlighted the significant growth a…
Lessons from the rise of women’s labor force participation in Japan
After lagging behind U.S. women for more than forty years, Japanese prime-age women have now caught up and exceeded the U.S. rate of labor force participation.…
