The Century Foundation

Workers are earning more. But more than half of those income gains are being swallowed by debt. For the typical worker, 52¢ of every $1 of income growth went to debt payments.

ICYMI: Halloween candy prices are up 15% from last year, 4x the rate of overall inflation. Our new report w/ @groundwork.bsky.social finds that major candy makers are keeping prices high while families are increasingly turning to debt to get by: www.scrippsnews.com/life/holiday...

NEW from us and @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: Americans hoping not to break the bank when preparing for Halloween this year have few options. Halloween candy prices are up 15.3% – a staggering 4x overall inflation. @scrippsnews.bsky.social with the exclusive 👇

It's not just ghouls and ghosts out there. 40% of households with young children plan to take on debt in order to cover this year’s Halloween costs. New analysis from us & @tcfdotorg.bsky.social found Halloween candy prices are up 15% this year compared to last.

Meet @tonantzin-tlc.bsky.social! As our new Director of Economic Policy, we’re thrilled to have Tonantzin lead our economic policy agenda with her extraordinary expertise and a deep commitment to building an economy that works for working people. Join us in welcoming her, and stay tuned for more!

Today is Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day. Did you know that disabled women workers are typically paid 56 cents for every dollar paid to nondisabled men? At TCF, we're working on creating the policies we need to make economic justice a reality for disabled people in the US: tcf.org/content/repo...

The scariest thing Americans face this Halloween won’t be a haunted house, but the price tags in the candy aisle. 🚨NEW: We and @tcfdotorg.bsky.social found Halloween candy prices are up 15.3% – a staggering 4x overall inflation.

Rural America already faced barriers to affordable, accessible healthcare—and then the Big Ugly Bill only made things worse. In American Educator, @tcfdotorg.bsky.social's Jeanne Lambrew explains ways to advance healthcare reform, confront consolidation, and improve outcomes for rural communities.

👻 The scariest thing about Halloween this year might be the price of candy. 👻 Our new report w/ @groundwork.bsky.social shows candy prices are up 15.3%, four times faster than overall inflation. And 40% of parents with kids under 18 plan to take on debt for Halloween costs: go.tcf.org/Halloween

We were featured on @cnbc.com! Their segment, "Squawk Box," featured TCF’s research on how debt payments are eating into workers’ income gains. Watch here: www.cnbc.com/video/2026/1...

NEW: Debt is taking a bigger bite out of Americans’ paychecks. In @washingtonpost.com, TCF’s Angela Hanks explains how rising debt payments deepen existing wealth inequality, drawing on our Half of Every Dollar report with @protectborrowers.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Meet Kyle Moore: TCF’s new Chief Economist! Kyle brings his expertise in economic inequality, race, and corporate power, with a strong focus on the structural forces shaping workers’ and families’ lives. Get to know Kyle and learn more about his work at @kdoc-writes.bsky.social:

Think today's CPI and real wage numbers are bad? Don't forget: they don't account for debt.

A pay raise should help you get ahead. But what happens when debt payments eat into that? The @washingtonpost.com reports on our research w/ @protectborrowers.bsky.social, which found that debt payments have risen 8x faster than real take-home pay since 2022: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

HUGE NEWS: Today, Mayor Mamdani introduced the POWER Act, giving New Yorkers a way to hold companies accountable for unfair & abusive business practices. This was one of the key recommendations in our Affordable NYC Now roadmap w/@protectborrowers.bsky.social. This is what policy impact looks like!

Debt is consuming more of workers' wage gains. Since 2022, a typical household gained $109/month in real take-home income, while a typical worker’s debt payments rose by $57. 52¢ of every new dollar went to debt. New report from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social + Protect Borrowers: bit.ly/4hKntSH

Rural America offers a critical lens for rethinking our health care system. In a new @afthealthcare.bsky.social article, TCF’s Jeanne Lambrew examines the state of rural health & how health professionals can shape a bold vision for what our health system could deliver: www.aft.org/hc/fall2026/...

The new @banking.senate.gov Trumpflation Tracker also spotlights @tcfdotorg.bsky.social research on a missing piece of the affordability crisis: debt. Since 2022, 52¢ of every additional $1 in income has gone toward rising debt payments. TCF research: tcf.org/content/repo...

NEW: The Senate Banking Democrats' Trumpflation Tracker is putting the squeeze on working families into perspective. It includes our research. We found that for every $1 in additional income families gained since 2022, 52¢ was eaten up by debt: senatebankingdemocrats.substack.com/p/new-warren...

More than half of the income gains seen by the typical U.S. worker since 2022 have been swallowed by debt payments. Our new analysis w/ @protectborrowers.bsky.social shows how rising debt is eroding workers’ power. Read more in @commondreams.org: www.commondreams.org/news/worker-...

Today’s jobs report shows a labor market that is grinding to a halt. As @kdoc-writes.bsky.social, our chief economist, told @thedailybeast.bsky.social: “slow hiring and declining real wages leave workers with very little leverage.” Read more: www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hit-by...

For the typical worker, more than half of every dollar of income growth is going right back out the door in debt payments. This new report from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social and @protectborrowers.bsky.social makes it clear: the economy is rigged against working families.

More than half of states have expanded care and benefits for children, older adults, disabled people, and workers. But federal cuts could make it hard for states to sustain that progress. Read more about our analysis with @caringacross.org, cited in @stateline.org: stateline.org/2026/07/31/m...

Did you know over the last 3 years, debt payments grew over 8x faster than real income? A new report from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social and @protectborrowers.bsky.social shows the burden falls hardest on those who can least afford it. When will Americans receive the help they need? tcf.org/content/repo...

This past Tuesday, TCF President @jmargetta.bsky.social hosted @warren.senate.gov for a candid conversation with TCF’s partners and allies.
 They spoke about the gap between the economic story coming out of Washington and what families are actually experiencing. Thank you to those who joined us!

Shocking new study from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social finds that 10 percent of household income is now going toward debt (and eating up much of the gain in workers' wages). tcf.org/content/repo...

New paper from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social & @protectborrowers.bsky.social on a missing piece of the affordability debate: debt Since 2022, debt payments rose 14.8% while real income grew just 1.7%. For the typical worker, 52 cents of every additional dollar went to debt payments tcf.org/content/repo...

Utility bills are becoming unaffordable for millions of families, as rates rise alongside demand from data centers. Our recent research also found that utility debt is disproportionately burdening Black & Asian households. Read more in @consumerreports.org: www.consumerreports.org/data-centers...

As Americans grapple with rising utility costs, recent analysis from @tcfdotorg.bsky.social and @protectborrowers.bsky.social finds that energy bills have risen three times faster than inflation under the current administration: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Since the Iran war started, wages have been losing ground to prices, according to @kdoc-writes.bsky.social, TCF's chief economist. “The American worker is working harder, productivity is up, wage growth is tepid, prices are continuing to rise," said Moore: www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

NYC is expanding child care. But without investing in the workers who provide it, families may still struggle to access care. Our new commentary outlines three steps for New York to build a sustainable, fairly compensated child care workforce: tcf.org/content/comm...

Is a rate hike going to rebuild our trade relationships or reopen the Strait of Hormuz? No, but it could make an already tough economy a little tougher for strained American families. New commentary w/ @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: tcf.org/content/comm...

Americans are increasingly turning to refinancing their homes to dig out from their credit card debt. But why? @tcfdotorg.bsky.social's recent research cited by @nytimes.com finds that credit card debt per cardholder has jumped 22.7% since 2018: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/b...

Women are bearing the brunt of job losses in today’s job market. As TCF's @janellecj.bsky.social tells @cnbc.com, women—particularly women of color—are concentrated in fields seeing some of the biggest cuts, from public service to leisure & hospitality: www.cnbc.com/2026/09/02/g...

Excited to officially join @tcfdotorg.bsky.social as Director of Economic Policy! Looking forward to working with this incredible team at such an important moment for economic policy.

Proud to be joining up as Chief Economist at The Century Foundation- I want to continue to help to give people a vaccine for bad thinking about racial disparities. If folks have questions about building a progressive vision for our economy hit me up, let me know. Let's do better together!

Americans across the political spectrum are concerned about how AI & technology are reshaping K-12 schools. As TCF President @jmargetta.bsky.social told K-12 Dive News, schools should listen to families and policymakers should set clear guardrails for the technology: www.k12dive.com/news/voters-...

“Shouldn’t we figure out the rules before we hand our kids over to unregulated technology?” In a new op-ed for MS NOW, TCF President @jmargetta.bsky.social makes the case for putting families and educators, not Silicon Valley, in the driver’s seat on AI in schools: www.ms.now/opinion/ai-s...

AI tutors are entering classrooms, but are students actually benefiting? Our polling, covered by @the74.bsky.social, found 84% of Americans worry about tech companies profiting from students’ data, while nearly half want AI use in classrooms kept to a minimum: www.the74million.org/article/ai-t...