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.
Papers
Changes in the safety net over recent decades and their impact
This paper examines the U.S. safety net's evolution, effectiveness, and critiques.
Economic Security & Inequality
Social Insurance
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Papers
A primer on SNAP work requirements
Economic Security & Inequality
Employment & Wages
Social Insurance
Posts
Work permit applications suggest prior immigration is still pushing up labor supply—for now
Employment & Wages
Immigration
Posts
Higher new Census population estimates will affect the employment report
Employment & Wages
Immigration
Explore All Publications
Policy Proposals
June 2, 2014
Supporting low-income workers through refundable child-care credits
In this policy memo, James P. Ziliak proposes converting the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit from a nonrefundable tax credit to a refundable one, cappi…
Posts
April 4, 2014
Nationwide and state-by-state “jobs gap” update for March 2014
Each month, The Hamilton Project calculates America’s “jobs gap,” or the number of jobs that the U.S. economy needs to create in order to return to pre-recessi…
Posts
March 27, 2014
New tax legislation would increase the return to work for low- and middle-income working families
Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray introduced legislation that would provide tax relief for working families by establishing a deduction for two-e…
Posts
March 7, 2014
Closing the jobs gap: February 2014 jobs gap update
As of the end of February 2014, our nation faces a jobs gap of 7.5 million jobs. This chart shows how the jobs gap has evolved since the start of the Great Rec…
Posts
February 7, 2014
Closing the jobs gap: January 2014 jobs gap update
As of the end of January 2014, our nation faces a jobs gap of 7.6 million jobs. The Hamilton Project updates our jobs gap calculator.
Posts
January 10, 2014
The “ripple effect” of a minimum wage increase on American workers
In this month’s Hamilton Project employment analysis, we consider the “ripple effects” of a minimum wage increase on near-minimum wage workers, finding that a …
Policy Proposals
December 2, 2013
Giving secondary earners a tax break: A proposal to help low- and middle-income families
The current tax system hampers low- and middle-income families who add secondary earners to the workforce to augment their primary breadwinner’s income. In a n…
Posts
September 12, 2013
The lasting effects of the Great Recession: Six million missing workers and a new economic normal
Despite the consistent pattern of modest jobs growth over the last several years, the nation’s goal of a full recovery from the Great Recession remains elusive…