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The Hamilton Project
@hamiltonproject.org
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The Hamilton Project at @brookings.edu produces research and policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. www.hamiltonproject.org
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As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Every Student Succeeds Act, The Hamilton Project is hosting a virtual event to explore measurement, outcomes, and accountability in public schools. RSVP to watch: www.hamiltonproject.org/event/k-12-e...
November 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) not only helps families put food on the table; it can also help them, and the economy, weather tough times. This Thanksgiving, learn more about why SNAP matters: #FigureFriday
Figure 3 of "SNAP cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will significantly impair recession response"
November 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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In @nytimes.com, @laurenhlb.bsky.social discusses how SNAP plays a critical role both in combating hunger and acting as an automatic stabilizer during economic downturns: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/d...
November 19, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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#FigureFriday: Amid ongoing uncertainty about SNAP funding, The Hamilton Project has created four figures visualizing federal outlays to SNAP for November 2025. The figures will update daily on weekdays, excluding federal holidays. www.hamiltonproject.org/data/trackin...
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
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The Trump administration has radically reshaped U.S. trade policy with extremely high tariff rates, making the U.S. unusual among its peers.
For #FigureFriday, learn why more developed, rich nations have moved away from funding their governments with tariffs: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
November 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
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For #FigureFriday, learn more in @bobgreensteindc.bsky.social’s 2022 THP paper on targeting, universalism, and other factors affecting social programs’ political strength: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
October 31, 2025 at 2:37 PM
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There has long been a debate in policy circles over targeted vs. universal programs. In @nytimes.com, @bobgreensteindc.bsky.social discusses what this means for policymakers: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/n...
October 31, 2025 at 2:37 PM
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The USDA has announced that no SNAP benefits will be issued on November 1. Join us today at 12:30 PM ET to understand what this means for families, communities, and the economy: www.hamiltonproject.org/event/addres...
October 30, 2025 at 1:47 PM
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📢 NEW: We are pleased to announce that @klobuchar.senate.gov will be joining our event tomorrow to deliver remarks on SNAP.

Additionally, @fooddepository.bsky.social’s Danielle Perry is joining our panel of leading experts. See the updated agenda and RSVP: www.hamiltonproject.org/event/addres...
October 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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In her THP policy proposal, @betseystevenson.bsky.social sets out a new baseline for the labor market—a modernization of the FLSA that includes a federal guarantee for earned paid time off. #FigureFriday www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 5 from "A federal guarantee for earned paid time off"
October 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
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SNAP plays a critical role in supporting both families and the economy during recessions. Here’s how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) could threaten this: #FigureFriday 1/
www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 3. Most common events experienced before receiving SNAP, 2008-12
October 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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October is Head Start Awareness Month.

In this #FigureFriday paper, @laurenhlb.bsky.social and Diane Schanzenbach explore Head Start’s impact on both its participants and their children: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "The long-term impact of the Head Start program"
October 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
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In @nytimes.com, @laurenhlb.bsky.social discusses recent trends in prime-age labor force participation, particularly among prime-age women with young children: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/b...
The share of women in their prime working years who are in the labor force was 77.7 percent last month, down slightly from its all-time peak last August of 78.4 percent. Among women with children under 5, that number was about 68 percent in May. That is down from an all-time high of 71 percent in September 2023, according to an analysis in July from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy research group at the Brookings Institution. The labor force participation rate for men ages 25 to 54 was 89.8 percent last month. “You are looking for those pockets of slack — and those pockets of places where those policy interventions would make a big difference,” said Lauren Bauer, the associate director of the Hamilton Project. “This is clearly one of those places.”
September 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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@laurenhlb.bsky.social, @kristaruffini.bsky.social, and Diane Schanzenbach highlight the importance of child nutrition programs and offer policies to ensure that nutrition assistance reaches the children these programs are intended to serve: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 3 of "The case for and challenges of delivering in-kind nutrition assistance to children"
September 26, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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What are work requirements, and how do they affect SNAP recipients? For this week’s #FigureFriday, @laurenhlb.bsky.social and @chloeneast.bsky.social review the literature on SNAP work requirements: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 8, Causal estimates of the effect of ABAWD work requirement reinstatement on labor market outcomes and SNAP participation
September 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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What’s happening at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)?

Olivia Howard, @laurenhlb.bsky.social, @cmcnich.bsky.social, and Margaret Poydock use administrative data to track NLRB actions: #FigureFriday www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Tracking National Labor Relations Board actions through its administrative data"
September 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
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In @usatoday.com, @laurenhlb.bsky.social discusses recent trends in labor force participation among prime-age mothers—and why it matters: www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Read more analysis on the labor market: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics warned that the unpublished data is based on a relatively small sample size, the decline mirrors long-term trends tracked by The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, which found labor force participation rates for women with children under five remain higher than pre-COVID figures but have slipped nearly 3 percentage points from an all-time high of 71% in September 2023. “Women had been powering the post-COVID labor market recovery. But in the past six-ish, seven-ish months, that has started to weaken,” said Bauer, associate director of The Hamilton Project.
September 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
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Prime-age women powered the post-pandemic labor market recovery. Amid concerns about women leaving the workforce, our analysis for #FigureFriday shows that prime-age women's labor force participation rate has been stable over the course of 2025 once adjusted for seasonal patterns.
Prime-age female labor force participation, seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted
September 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
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Between December 1935 (the first month with a Board decision) and December 2024, there were only four months in which the NLRB published no decisions. Between January and July of this year, there have been five.

Learn more this #FigureFriday: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Tracking National Labor Relations Board actions through its administrative data," shows National Labor Relations Board decisions from December 1935 to August 2025
August 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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In @nytimes.com, @bobgreensteindc.bsky.social discusses the potential impact of the budget bill’s cuts to SNAP: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
Robert Greenstein, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that some families would squeeze other parts of their budgets to try to offset the loss of SNAP benefits, but the overall reduction in food purchases would be substantial. “We’ll likely see more independent grocery stores in low-income and rural areas going under, especially during a recession,” Mr. Greenstein said.
August 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM
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This #FigureFriday, explore our data interactives on federal expenditures, real pay, trade, and more: www.hamiltonproject.org/data/
August 22, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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Try out our federal expenditures tracker: www.hamiltonproject.org/data/trackin...
Meanwhile, the government has spent about the same amount of money this year as it did last year to this point. Daily Treasury statements, which show the government’s ongoing expenses, are slightly higher now than last year. Expenditures on federal salaries are up about 5 percent this year compared with last year, according to federal spending trackers kept by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
August 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
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Our recent analysis highlights key trends in prime-age (ages 25–54) labor force participation. Read it here for #FigureFriday: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Seven economic facts about prime-age labor force participation"
August 15, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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In @economist.com, @bobgreensteindc.bsky.social discusses the budget reconciliation bill’s potential impact on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): www.economist.com/united-state...
States have limited options if they cannot reduce mistakes. The law stops them from reducing benefit amounts, or cutting off certain groups. Given that almost all states are required by their constitutions to balance their budgets, they have to either redirect spending, raise taxes or reduce SNAP rolls by making it harder to apply. What if there is a recession? “You get a huge budget crunch,” says Robert Greenstein of the Brookings Institution, another think-tank. “You could actually see a number of states completely terminating the programme, even as need increases.”
August 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
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With school right around the corner, revisit this THP policy proposal on supporting student-parents with high-quality, reliable, and affordable child care: #FigureFriday www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Helping women to succeed in higher education: Supporting student-parents with child care"
August 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM