But the economy is not like the weather, something that just happens. Rather, it reflects the deliberate choices that powerful people have made to privilege one group and disadvantage another.
We have the power to build a just and inclusive economy that honors every family’s dignity.
Love has always been a motivating force in my life. Growing up in Kansas as the daughter of a preacher, my family taught me to express God’s love through service. Serving in soup kitchens was one way my family tried to show that love.
But as I grew older, I began asking deeper questions about why things are one way and not another. I wondered, why do we need soup kitchens at all? Then when I was in college, philosophy professor Dr. Cornel West put my emerging thoughts about social change into a larger context. Justice, he said, “is what love looks like in public.”
His words resonated with me then and inspire me still.
The economy is “not like the weather”
A just society is built on an inclusive economy that allows everyone to pursue the dreams they have for themselves and their families. Only by closing the racial wealth gap and putting economic security within universal reach can all of us live the healthiest life possible.
Yet over the past four decades, wealth inequality has widened dramatically, driven by public policies that have reinforced structural racism. In the years following the housing crisis and Great Recession of 2008, Black and Brown households lost half of their collective wealth. By 2022, the average wealth of White families was about $1.4 million, roughly six times the average wealth of Black and Brown families.
None of that is inevitable. Many people would have us believe that the structure of a nation’s economy is a given, and that unequal outcomes reflect poor individual choices. But the economy is not like the weather, something that just happens. Rather, it reflects the deliberate choices that powerful people have made to privilege one group and disadvantage another. Those choices inevitably produce outcomes like poverty and the racial wealth gap that families can’t overcome on their own. Their jobs often don’t pay enough to meet even basic needs. The support that would make it easier to care for their children and other family members is woefully lacking. Families aren’t broken, the economy is.
The good news: We can repair the damage by putting equitable policies in place. Knowing that barriers to equity in the United States have been built intentionally means that with equal intention, we can tear them down. For that reason, hope remains a motivating force in my life.
Making families more secure
Imagine a nation in which the government guarantees everyone housing, healthcare, a college education, dignified work, family care, an inheritance, and an income floor.
Unrealistic in the United States? I don’t think so.
This country has vast resources, and policymakers have certainly been willing to dedicate them to supporting corporate wellbeing, partly based on the myth that funds directed to the private sector will trickle down to the broader population. Research and experience tell us that a different approach—building economic security from the ground up—will reach many more people. I pursue that idea in my book, The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy, and it is the North Star of the Economic Security Project.
The guiding vision is to establish an economic floor beneath which no one can fall, regardless of their race, religion, or zip code. Achieving that demands political will and far-reaching policy changes. But in these transformative times, we have every reason to act boldly. One core strategy is a guaranteed income—government money that arrives regularly, with no strings attached. We think parents, grandparents, small business owners, people facing medical crises, and other community members know best how to manage their own financial lives, if they have the resources to do so. A guaranteed income sends a message of respect for their decision-making capacity.
Not long ago, the prospect of a guaranteed income seemed ludicrous. A few times, I was virtually laughed out of a room when I suggested it. But the concept of building an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few, has gained traction in recent years. Ensuring that families have a financial safety net lessens the health harms associated with not being able to afford suitable housing or nutritious food. It also makes it easier to pursue new educational and work opportunities and spend more time with loved ones. Families are stronger, communities more stable as a result, and that benefits us all.
Tested models to advance economic security
It is inspiring to see the seeds of a more equitable economy taking root. That concept of a guaranteed income? We saw it take hold during the COVID pandemic, when the federal government sent families thousands of dollars in stimulus checks and increased the Child Tax Credit to as much as $3,600 for every qualifying child. One result: Child poverty rates dropped by 50 percent while the credit was in place.
Legislation that expanded access to health insurance, including Medicaid, also highlights the potential of a generous social contract. Even when the pandemic drove up unemployment, fewer Americans were uninsured than at any other time in history. Some states also now provide baby bonds, government-funded savings accounts established at birth and available to young people when they turn 18—in essence, a form of guaranteed inheritance that wealthier families take for granted. Research shows that baby bonds help reduce the wealth gap between Black and White households. Another area of growing interest is public long-term care insurance. In Washington State, a risk pool funded by small paycheck deductions ensures that long-term care resources are available to families who need them.
Improving child care systems will also reduce the precarious economic footing on which so many stand. The Economic Security Project is honored to partner on this issue with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has identified Healthy Children and Families as one of its priority areas. Together, we are sparking conversations about how state and municipal governments can best invest in public options for child care.
Many of these ideas have broad bipartisan support and they all show what is possible when inclusive and effective government puts people first. As advocates, our job is to put the building blocks of economic security in place, and keep pursuing a bold and unshakeable vision of what we deserve. Not what we’ll accept, not what we think is politically feasible at any given moment, but what we deserve as human beings.
Social change is a lifelong commitment, not a linear process. But the work is underway, and the community of people determined to dismantle structural racism and strengthen systems of economic support for children and families keeps growing. Together, we can lay the economic floor that will move us more quickly to health equity.
Register now to join a live conversation with leaders of guaranteed income and baby bond initiatives!
About the Author
Natalie Foster is a leading architect of the movement to build an inclusive and resilient economy. She’s President and co-founder of Economic Security.