Editing Openai/696da7f9-7e00-800e-821b-a23fbdde6b12 (section)

=== 6) Economic inequality and an under-powered social safety net ===

Problem: Long-run concentration of income and wealth, unaffordable health care and housing insecurity, and weak social insurance undercut broad civic equality and stability.
What to do: progressive tax reforms that close loopholes, expand refundable tax credits (or other direct supports) for low-income families, raise and index the federal minimum wage, strengthen unions and worker bargaining power, and pursue universal or more affordable health care options (public option/Medicare expansion) to reduce economic vulnerability. Census and policy data show persistent inequality even amid short-term gains. Census.gov<ref>{{cite web|title=Census.gov|url=https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-282.html|publisher=census.gov|access-date=2026-01-20}}</ref>