Democracy Journal on “The Forgotten 40%”

Democracy: A Journal of Ideas is a quarterly publication that strives to “serve as a place where ideas can be developed and important debates can be spurred.”

This quarter’s issue just published, and from our perspective the journal is living up to its mission. “The Forgotten 40%” takes a look at the state of the poor and near-poor in America, people who are barely mentioned in our presidential campaign (for instance, take a look at this story from Politico, which quotes our Rachel Black.) Much as the July/August special issue of The Washington Monthly looked at the possibilities of asset building and the absence of a serious conversation about savings and financial security in the election season, this issue of Democracy concludes that more can be done to create a growing, robust middle class if we change our way of thinking about the safety net.

There are a number of excellent pieces and a number of familiar names are responsible, Andrea Levere from CFED, our old friend and founding director Ray Boshara, Bob Friedman from CFED and Sarah Rosen Wartell from Urban.

The whole thing is excellent, give it a read.