American Workers

Campaign for American Workers

The goal of the American Workers Initiative is to increase economic security within the U.S. workforce, particularly among poor and vulnerable workers. Specifically, the initiative seeks to:

Ascertain the extent to which economic security is increasing or decreasing within the United States and how this insecurity affects different parts of the population;
Develop portable, affordable health, savings and retirement products that provide adequate health coverage, short-term resilience and retirement security to poor and vulnerable workers;
Frame economic security as a universal problem that affects all working Americans, while advancing solutions that intentionally and effectively serve poor and vulnerable populations;
Identify and publicize the fiscal trade-offs and distributional consequences of current and proposed policies that target economic security within the U.S. workforce; and
Advance policy proposals that will increase economic security within the U.S. workforce.

Since May 2006, the American Workers Initiative has made continued progress by investing in data collection, product development and policy work to improve U.S. workers’ ability to save for today, save for tomorrow and to obtain affordable, adequate health insurance.

Evaluating Our Work | Collecting Data | Developing Products | Informing Policy Makers & Elites

Evaluating Our Work
Mathematica Policy Research:
The Foundation strives for accountability at all stages of its initiatives. We seek to learn throughout the course of each initiative and to make mid-course adjustments in response to new data and changing circumstances. To this end, we have funded Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to conduct a comprehensive four-year evaluation to assess the impact of the American Workers Initiative. MPR will create an evaluation model to assess the initiative at various stages of development, as well as to measure cross-cutting impact. The lessons from this evaluation model are expected to be shared with and useful to the field of philanthropy, and to support the use of evaluations in effective grantmaking. This grant will also inform the field of program evaluation by exploring new methods and models to measure how complex systems change.

Collecting Data
Rockefeller Economic Security Index:
The Rockefeller Economic Security Index, led by Professor Jacob Hacker and his team at Yale University, is underway. The index will build on the best existing research to define the dimensions of economic security, and will provide an authoritative source that illustrates both how and in what respects economic security varies over time and across social groups. The RF has formed a Technical Committee of distinguished economists from across the political spectrum to advise the process of index development. Henry Aaron, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, chairs the committee, which also includes Nobel Prize Laureate economist Robert Solow.

Informing Policy Makers
Policy Impact Forum:
The Policy Impact Forum brings together senior policy advisors from the 2008 Presidential campaigns to meet in an informal setting and hear from leading edge researchers and thinkers. The first Policy Impact Forum focused on the issue of economic security within the U.S. workforce. Democratic campaign advisors met on July 18th and Republicans met on September 6th and were briefed on the Yankelovich public opinion survey commissioned by RF earlier in 2007. more

Public Radio International:
The American Workers Initiative communications strategy targets opinion leaders and policy makers. We believe this approach makes the best use of The Rockefeller Foundation brand and position. To this end, the RF recently funded Public Radio International (PRI) for a radio initiative to expand coverage and increase awareness of economic security concerns within the U.S. workforce. more

Developing Products
Brookings Institution
Annuities Research and Experimentation:
The RF is funding the Brookings Institution to conduct annuities research and experimentation. The goal of this project is to evaluate demand- and supply-side barriers within the annuities market and to develop strategies for expanding predictable, guaranteed lifetime income for future moderate- and lower-income retirees. more

Criterion Ventures:
Workers need the means to weather an unexpected crisis, such as a medical emergency or an unforeseen income interruption. Medical costs incurred by patients, even those with health insurance, pose one of the greatest threats to U.S. workers’ short-term resilience and overall economic security. To counter this source of insecurity, RF will fund Criterion Ventures and its partners to analyze the growing crisis of medical debt, explore solutions, and draw up a detailed strategy to implement changes. more

Doorways to Dreams (D2D):
Close to 40 percent of American households do not possess sufficient assets to live above the poverty line for three months following an income interruption. The evidence indicates that tax refunds offer a singular savings opportunity for low- and middle-income workers, particularly following a recent IRS ruling allowing individuals to split their tax refunds between two accounts. Peter Tufano, Harvard Business School Professor and founder of D2D, makes a compelling case for offering savings bonds at tax preparation sites. RF will fund D2D to conduct a 20-site demonstration in Spring 2008 (2007 tax season) to demonstrate demand for savings bonds among low- or middle-income filers. In addition to expanding the use of savings bonds, this experiment could provide evidence to support federal regulatory changes that would make savings bonds more accessible. more

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