In the 2024 election, a broad swath of Americans, especially young people without a college education, blacks, and Latinos, turned toward Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Democrats know they have to change course if they don't want to become a permanent minority party that only supports people with college degrees or higher.
Of course, the discussion about what went wrong and how to fix it went in the expected direction. same old argument between moderates and progressives on redistributive policies and identity politics; Regarding the latter, I strongly believe that the Democratic Party needs to reduce its heavy focus on race and gender issues. These issues are divisive, appealing primarily to the university-educated and distracting from the majority of men and the working class.
Instead, Democrats must return to their economic roots and focus on helping America's working and middle class prosper. However, these roots must grow in an economic environment different from that of the 20th century. While there is still value in raising the minimum wage and promoting unions, helping people thrive in a primarily post-industrial economy requires a somewhat different approach. Anti-trade and anti-immigrant actions This (apart from ensuring secure borders) is also self-defeating and will only increase costs and inflation in the future. This was a huge blow to the Democratic Party in the past election.
Instead, Democrats should focus on three factors that affect voters without college degrees, especially young people and nonwhites: First, we have to help people who don't have a four-year college get into college. good skills and high paying job;Secondly, it must help reduce the cost of living in certain key areas, including housing. Third, we must help Americans navigate the tension between family needs and the workplace.
Creating skilled workers and high-wage jobs requires a combination of policies at all levels of government that focus on economic and workforce development. The Biden administration will make major investments in chips, clean energy, infrastructure, create good jobsHowever, these can yield significant benefits over time. Analysts like Harvard economists dani rodrik And Mr. Brookings Mark Muro We have outlined a range of policies and practices to foster further economic development in ways that benefit both key regions and workers.
And we need to support community colleges and other training providers to create a more skilled workforce for good jobs. Community colleges are learning how to Better partnership with local industry At the same time, it creates workers with the skills they need to obtain high-paying careers. organizations like per scolas, Year Up and Project Questhas been successful in getting people without bachelor's degrees into good jobs in high-demand fields (health care, IT, advanced manufacturing, etc.), but is expanding its programs to reach a broader range of workers. We need expanded support. We also need to help employers create more apprenticeships and other work-based learning models.
At the same time, we need to help workers cope and adapt accordingly. artificial intelligenceit will definitely increase productivity and living standards while displacing millions of workers from their current duties and jobs.
To promote more affordable housing, quite simply, we need to build more housing. But this is a difficult goal for the federal government for two simple reasons. First, barriers to housing growth primarily lie in state and local regulations that hinder and complicate housing construction. Second, these regulations benefit current homeowners because limiting the supply of housing increases the value of the current housing stock.
At the same time, thoughtful housing analysts have devised several methods. policy and practice This would allow the federal government to assist and encourage state and local governments to ease regulations that currently hinder housing construction and reduce the supply of housing. If Democrats promote these practices, their appeal to young people will increase further.
In the end, you will definitely get more support. childcare More workers, especially young mothers, will be able to join the workforce. while offering more paid family leave This eases the burden on Gen Xers and Millennials who often have to care for both children and elderly parents. Of course, childcare and paid leave cost money, so I want to do it in a way that doesn't cause further growth. public debt. But here, too, creative approaches involving federal and state governments could generate more support for working families. Politically acceptable funding mechanism.
Reducing its reliance on divisive identity politics and refocusing its rhetoric and actions on real economic needs will give the Democratic Party the power to fight to limit the damage caused by Donald Trump by attracting young and working-class voters. This will provide a platform with broad appeal. This refocusing and rebranding needs to begin as soon as possible.
Harry J. Holzer is the LaFarge Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University, a senior fellow at Brookings University, and a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor.
