The Century Foundation

01/21/2026

NEW: Angela Hanks and Nate Schenkkan joined Century International’s Order from Ashes podcast to discuss the U.S. Democracy Meter, our new tool for assessing the health of American democracy.

The tool uses a 100-point scale across 23 subquestions to measure the state of U.S. state institutions, nonstate institutions, rights, and elections, and found a nearly 28 percent decline in the past year, dropping the U.S. well into authoritarian territory.

“We have a list of things that authoritarian governments do when we work on studying democracy,” Schenkkan explains. “Those are things that we see this government doing.”

🎧 Listen to the podcast: go.tcf.org/OrderFromAshes
📚 Read the report: go.tcf.org/DemocracyMeter

01/20/2026

As the Trump administration moves to freeze federal child care funding in several states, New York City is set to unveil a new “2-Care” program for 2-year-old, addressing the city’s affordability crisis where day care costs $20,000-$50,000 annually.

TCF’s Chantal Hinds has been a tireless advocate for the 2-care program, and shared her insights with the New York Times.

Some New Yorkers hope that raising a child in the city could become more affordable thanks to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plans for free child care and preschool.

01/15/2026

Today, we are launching the U.S. Democracy Meter, a new tool that deploys a 100-point scale across twenty-three subquestions to evaluate the quality of American democracy: go.tcf.org/DemocracyMeter

The analysis examines current threats to state institutions, nonstate sectors, civil rights, and electoral systems—and finds that American democracy is at greater risk than at any time since Watergate. It may even be approaching its pre-Civil Rights Movement low point.

The slide into authoritarianism, however, is reversible. “The first responsibility is to defend democracy, and the second one is to rebuild it.”

01/08/2026

This week, HHS announced it is freezing funding for child care and other family assistance programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.

Our new analysis finds that more than 500,000 children in over 44,000 programs could be impacted, with disastrous consequences for parents, children, the workforce, and the economy as a whole.

Learn more: go.tcf.org/ChildCareFreeze

01/08/2026

Today, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced a sweeping child care plan: free child care for 2-year-olds in NYC and more affordable care for all kids under 5.

TCF’s Julie Kashen:

“This proposal sets New York on a path to ensure parents can afford great child care, early educators are paid fairly for their essential work, and more high quality options will be available and drive down costs.

“This proposal is just the start but it shows that Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani are prepared to meet this moment for children, families, and communities across the state.”

01/05/2026

Republicans pushed through massive higher ed changes in 2025, expanding aid to short-term programs, limiting grad loans, taxing wealthy colleges, and more.

Now they're targeting accreditation reform, but TCF’s Carolyn Fast warns it risks prioritizing culture wars over protecting students and federal funds.

Republicans achieved a key victory in passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and addressing a number of higher ed–related priorities last year. But more challenges loom in 2026.

12/11/2025

New poll: the affordability crisis is here, and it's hitting working-class families the hardest. In our new report out today with GQR, we found that in the past year:

🍔 1 in 3 Americans skipped a meal to save money
🏥 Nearly 3 in 10 delayed or went without medical care due to cost
💰 Roughly half tapped into their savings to meet daily expenses
📈 More than 8 in 10 think prices will continue to climb under Trump

Americans without degrees are living in a substantially harsher economy than their college-educated peers. They are roughly twice as likely to skip prescribed medication because of cost, skip meals to save money, and take out payday loans and risky ”Buy Now, Pay Later” loans.

The good news? Americans overwhelmingly support policies that would rein in corporate power and even the playing field. Majorities support a range of populist policy solutions—from protecting kids’ data to breaking up Big Tech and corporate monopolies.

Learn more: go.tcf.org/GQRsurvey

12/09/2025

NEW: Popular holiday gifts are up 26% since last year—nearly nine times the overall inflation rate. 40% of families are buying fewer gifts, nearly one-third are giving presents to fewer people, and more than one in ten are tapping into savings.

Trump is shirking responsibility for the sticker shock this holiday season, and ignoring his tariffs' steep impact on the cost of living: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of thirty dolls.” Meanwhile, nearly three in four voters hold President Trump responsible for rising costs this year.

Learn more:

As families hunt for the perfect gift this holiday season, soaring prices are dampening some of the holiday magic. New analysis from Groundwork

11/20/2025

NEW: Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, calls his latest labor proposals “pro-worker,” but the legislation would impose $5,000 fines for filing workplace complaints deemed “frivolous” and require impossible participation thresholds for union elections.

Senior fellow and former NLRB chair Lauren McFerran unpacks the bills and the GOP’s new pro-worker marketing:

In the wake of passing a budget bill that sacrificed the well-being of working families to support tax giveaways for corporations and billionaires,

11/19/2025

NEW: TCF analysis shows the Trump administration is already cutting Social Security for over 64 million Medicare recipients. Next year, premium increases will be at least 3X higher than growth in prices, income, and SSI benefits.

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On November 14, the Trump administration announced that Medicare’s Part B premium will increase by 9.7 percent—more than three times the 2.8 percent cost