The Hamilton Project
@hamiltonproject.org
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The Hamilton Project at @brookings.edu produces research and policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. www.hamiltonproject.org
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October is Head Start Awareness Month.

In this #FigureFriday paper, @laurenhlb.bsky.social and Diane Schanzenbach explore Head Start’s impact on both its participants and their children: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "The long-term impact of the Head Start program"
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In @nytimes.com, @laurenhlb.bsky.social discusses recent trends in prime-age labor force participation, particularly among prime-age women with young children: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/b...
The share of women in their prime working years who are in the labor force was 77.7 percent last month, down slightly from its all-time peak last August of 78.4 percent. Among women with children under 5, that number was about 68 percent in May. That is down from an all-time high of 71 percent in September 2023, according to an analysis in July from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy research group at the Brookings Institution. The labor force participation rate for men ages 25 to 54 was 89.8 percent last month. “You are looking for those pockets of slack — and those pockets of places where those policy interventions would make a big difference,” said Lauren Bauer, the associate director of the Hamilton Project. “This is clearly one of those places.”
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@laurenhlb.bsky.social, @kristaruffini.bsky.social, and Diane Schanzenbach highlight the importance of child nutrition programs and offer policies to ensure that nutrition assistance reaches the children these programs are intended to serve: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 3 of "The case for and challenges of delivering in-kind nutrition assistance to children"
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On this day in 1972, an amendment to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 authorized WIC (the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children) as a two-year pilot program. #FigureFriday
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A federal earned paid time off program could unify our existing patchwork of state and local policies, reducing burdens for employers and employees alike. Read @betseystevenson.bsky.social’s proposal for a federal guarantee for earned paid time off:
A federal guarantee for earned paid time off - The Hamilton Project
Betsey Stevenson proposes a federal earned paid time off policy that would apply to all workers and all types of leave.
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Reposted by The Hamilton Project
laurenhlb.bsky.social
ICYMI, this weekend USDA announced that it would not field the Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey - the source of information about the state of food insecurity and hunger in America - this December.

The press release is full of falsehoods:

www.fns.usda.gov/newsroom/usd...
laurenhlb.bsky.social
This is false; I fear that whoever wrote this statement doesn’t know what these adjectives mean.
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What are work requirements, and how do they affect SNAP recipients? For this week’s #FigureFriday, @laurenhlb.bsky.social and @chloeneast.bsky.social review the literature on SNAP work requirements: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 8, Causal estimates of the effect of ABAWD work requirement reinstatement
on labor market outcomes and SNAP participation
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In this THP proposal, Matt Marx argues that the benefits of noncompetes “accrue primarily to employers and at the expense of employees.” He offers five avenues for reform to better balance the interests of firms and workers: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
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What’s happening at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)?

Olivia Howard, @laurenhlb.bsky.social, @cmcnich.bsky.social, and Margaret Poydock use administrative data to track NLRB actions: #FigureFriday www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Tracking National Labor Relations Board actions through its administrative data"
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In @usatoday.com, @laurenhlb.bsky.social discusses recent trends in labor force participation among prime-age mothers—and why it matters: www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Read more analysis on the labor market: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics warned that the unpublished data is based on a relatively small sample size, the decline mirrors long-term trends tracked by The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, which found labor force participation rates for women with children under five remain higher than pre-COVID figures but have slipped nearly 3 percentage points from an all-time high of 71% in September 2023.

“Women had been powering the post-COVID labor market recovery. But in the past six-ish, seven-ish months, that has started to weaken,” said Bauer, associate director of The Hamilton Project.
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Prime-age women powered the post-pandemic labor market recovery. Amid concerns about women leaving the workforce, our analysis for #FigureFriday shows that prime-age women's labor force participation rate has been stable over the course of 2025 once adjusted for seasonal patterns.
Prime-age female labor force participation, seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted
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Check out the Hutchins Center’s list of trackers covering Trump administration actions—including our trade and work permits trackers: www.brookings.edu/articles/tra...
www.hamiltonproject.org/data/
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) currently has fewer than three members, leaving it without a quorum. What is the NLRB, what can the Board do without a quorum, and what is the current state of NLRB caseloads? Find answers to these questions and more:
Tracking National Labor Relations Board actions through its administrative data - The Hamilton Project
Olivia Howard, Lauren Bauer, Celine McNicholas, and Margaret Poydock use administrative data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to assess the number of cases the NLRB closed, the reason…
www.hamiltonproject.org
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Between December 1935 (the first month with a Board decision) and December 2024, there were only four months in which the NLRB published no decisions. Between January and July of this year, there have been five.

Learn more this #FigureFriday: www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...
Figure 1 of "Tracking National Labor Relations Board actions through its administrative data," shows National Labor Relations Board decisions from December 1935 to August 2025