Nicole Lewis: Five Election Day Issues to Advance Economic and Racial Equity

Five Key Issues for Economic and Racial Justice on Election Day

Published by the Economic Policy Institute

In a recent article by Nicole Lewis, “Five Things to Consider on Election Day if You Care About Economic and Racial Justice,” the Economic Policy Institute highlights crucial issues for voters concerned about economic and racial equity. With the upcoming election being one of the most consequential in recent history, the piece underscores five key areas that deserve attention when entering the voting booth:

Here are five things to keep in mind before you enter the voting booth:

• Immigration bolsters our economic well-being. Immigrants are an integral part of the U.S. economy. Immigration has led to better wages and work opportunities for U.S.-born workers and increased economic growth and human capital contributions across occupations and industries.
• Unions lift up workers. Unions have been important for promoting economic equality, building worker power, and improving working conditions. Unions have been critical to narrowing the pay gap between critical public-sector jobs (like local government workers and school staff) and the private sector.
• Abortion restrictions undercut women’s economic freedoms. States with more abortion restrictions have lower wages, weaker labor standards, and higher levels of incarceration.
• The U.S. economy is doing well. The economy today is extraordinarily strong by nearly every historical benchmark, including relative to the years immediately preceding the pandemic. Inflation-adjusted wages have reached a record high and have grown more rapidly since 2022 than before the pandemic.
• Public education is the bedrock of our children’s success. Since the early 2000s, many states have introduced harmful voucher programs to provide public financing for private school education. These voucher programs are deeply damaging to efforts to offer an excellent public education for all U.S. children. Public education is one of the most important achievements in our country’s history and is crucial for the social and economic welfare of future generations.

As voters prepare to cast their ballots, Lewis’s article encourages them to consider these critical areas that shape both immediate and long-term prospects for economic and racial justice in the United States.