In this, the pre-primary 2016 presidential race season, it’s clear that Democrats plan to make economic health and inequality a major theme of the campaign.
The Elizabeth Warren movement has forced all Democrats to talk in these terms. And indeed, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have all begun talking about these issues on the campaign trail and sharing policy ideas. All of those campaigns have made hay of GOP presidential contender Jeb Bush’s apparent suggestion that people need to work more hours (Bush says he was referring only to part-time employees). Democrats also are going after Republicans for opposing a minimum-wage increase and are hitting them on other policies they say exacerbate the wage gap.
But where are these issues the most acute? A new study has identified 10 large cities where the most substantial shares of the population live in economically distressed communities.
