For more than 50 years, the Urban Institute has studied the effects of social and economic policies—and 2020 has been a year like no other. Read the Urban Wire blog posts (and Greater DC highlights) that elevated the debate in this unusual year.
Police spending reflects what communities pay for public safety—an exchange that does not keep all communities safe. In 2020, the police killing of George Floyd inspired unprecedented civic action, with “defund the police” as the rallying cry. Examining government finance data can inform—but in no way settle—larger debates around policing.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s eviction protection provisions (which expired in July) covered more than 12 million occupied federally financed rental units, but they didn’t cover everyone. The latest nationwide eviction ban is set to expire at the end of January.
Naming the historical and contemporary policies and practices that sustain structural racism is a key step in creating effective solutions to end racial inequities. But addressing these gaps will require more than changing how we contextualize disparities—it requires reconsidering our values, turning them into action, and investing in the assets and leadership of communities of color.
US schools have become more racially and ethnically diverse over the past few decades, but these changes have played out differently across the country. Search for your PK–12 school to see how student enrollment by race or ethnicity has changed.
The neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19 job losses are home to workers in industries like tourism and transportation, which are bearing the brunt of the economic shutdown. This tool helps nonprofits, foundations, and government target support where it’s most needed.
The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t ask for a tax filer’s race or ethnicity on tax forms, but that doesn’t mean the tax system affects everyone the same way. Some tax policies can exacerbate income and wealth inequalities stemming from long-standing discrimination in housing, education and employment.
