Ashleigh Axios worked in the Obama White House from 2012 to 2016. During that time she had the opportunity to work with a number of agencies, offices, and colleagues on infographics that broke down complex issues and proposals for easier and more enjoyable public consumption online.

This page contains a selection of White House infographics.

President Obama’s
2014 Budget Proposal

The 2014 Budget presented President Obama's plan to address these important questions: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living? This infographic was a core part of the Office of Digital Strategy’s plan for addressing these questions.

Direction: Colleen Curtis
Copy: Megan Slack
Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

2014 United States Budget

Top 10 Things You Need to Know About President Obama’s Budget

The 2014 Budget presented by President Obama:

• Makes America a magnet for jobs by ending tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas and rewards businesses that hire here at home.

• Creates jobs and builds the communications and transportation network our businesses need to succeed…

• Gives small businesses a 10 percent tax credit to hire new workers and increase wages.

• Builds on the progress in our housing market to cut red tape and help responsible homeowners save $3,000 a year…

• Equips Americans with the real world skills they need to find a good job or prepare for college…

• Provides high-quality preschool for every child so they’re prepared for school at an early age and have the opportunity for a good job later in life…

• Ensures hard work leads to a decent living by raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour…

• Makes tough choices and meets Republicans more than halfway to finish the job of more than $4 trillion in balanced deficit reduction…

• Includes 215 cuts, consolidations, and savings proposals which are projected to save more than $25 billion in 2014…

• Ensures millionaires pay at least the same tax rates as middle class families by establishing the Buffett Rule.

Launched: April 10, 2013

A Balanced Plan to Avert the Sequester and Reduce the Deficit

President Obama put forward a plan to avoid sequestration's harmful budget cuts and reduce the deficit in a balanced way — by cutting spending, finding savings in entitlement programs and closing tax loopholes.

Direction: Jennifer Palmieri & Macon Phillips
Design: Kodiak Starr
Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

President Obama has put forward a plan that would end the sequester’s harmful budget cuts and reduce the deficit.

The President has signed into law more than $2.5 trillion of deficit reduction…

The President’s last offer to Speaker Boehner is still on the table: more than $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction…

Total deficit reduction:

• Deficit reduction to date: more than $2.5 trillion

• New deficit reduction: $1.8 trillion

• Total deficit reduction: more than $4.3 trillion

Launched: February 2013

President Obama promised that he would make quality, affordable health care not a privilege, but a right. After nearly 100 years of talk, and decades of trying by presidents of both parties, that's exactly what he did. The following infographics support these changes as these efforts were under attack during President Obama’s second term in office.

Benefits of ACA

In 2014, millions of people had peace of mind about their health care that they lacked before the Affordable Care Act was passed, including better protections and access to health care, and new options for finding affordable coverage. This infographic helped highlight the change over time.

Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

5 reasons we’re better off because of The Affordable Care Act.

• Before Obamacare, 62% of adults found it difficult or impossible to find affordable coverage when they tried to buy coverage on the individual market.

• After Obamacare, nearly 6 out of 10 uninsured Americans can get coverage for $100 a month or less in 2014.

• Before Obamacare, 47% were denied coverage or charged more because of pre-existing conditions when trying to purchase coverage on the individual market.

• After Obamacare, insurance companies must cover essential benefits and annual or lifetime limits on insurance coverage are outlawed.

• Before Obamacare, 15% annual premium increase for people who stayed in their individual market plans for more than a year.

• After Obamacare, insurance companies must now publicly justify rate increases of 10% or more before raising any premium.

• Before Obamacare, 6.9% average annual growth in U.S. health care spending.

• After Obamacare, health care costs are growing at their slowest rate on record thanks in part to Obamacare.

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Launched: January 22, 2014

How Health Reform Benefits Americans

Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

Learn how health reform benefits Americans

• Free preventive care
  Check-ups, vaccines and screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies are covered by insurance at no cost.

• A new way to get insurance, by state
  Compare options based on price and benefits, enroll in a plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace, opening October 1.

• Coverage for young adults under 26
  6.6 million young adults can stay on their parent's’ plan until turning age 26.

• Coverage for pre-existing conditions
  Starting in 2014, insurance companies can’t charge you more or deny insurance because you’ve been sick, or charge women more.

• No cancellations of lifetime limits on care
  Insurance companies can’t cancel coverage or limit what they’ll spend when you get sick.

• Rebates from insurance companies
  If your insurer spends too much on overhead and not enough on your health care, you get a rebate.

• Lower cost coverage
  Through the Marketplace, you may qualify for lower monthly premiums depending on your income and family size.

• Prescription drug savings for seniors
  Nearly 3.5 million people with Medicare saved an average of more than $706 each on their prescriptions in 2012.

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Launched: January 22, 2014

Call for State Medicaid Expansion

Design: David Hudson
Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

States refusing to expand medicaid will leave 4.3 million Americans uninsured.

4.2 million residents in states expanding Medicaid coverage will gain access to affordable health insurance.

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Launched: June 4, 2015

How ACA Supports Medicare

Design: Ashleigh Axios

The Infographic Reads

The Affordable Care Act Strengthening Medicare

Nearly 50 million older Americans and Americans with disabilities rely on Medicare each year. The Affordable Care Act makes Medicare stronger by adding new benefits, fighting fraud, cutting costs, and improving care for patients:

• The amount the average person with Medicare will save by 2021 because of the new law: nearly $4,200

• Number of traditional Medicare enrollees provided with at least one new free preventive service in 2013 due to the Affordable Care Act: 25.4 million

• Seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare saved over $8.9 billion so far on prescription drugs because of the new health care law

• By 2020, the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap will be closed:

  • Seniors who have prescription drug costs that hit the “donut hole” will save as much as $15,700 by 2021.

  • The average savings Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole received on prescription drugs so far.

• The Affordable Care Act increases federal sentencing guidelines for health care fraud offenses by 20-50 percent for major fraud crimes…

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Launched: February, 2014

The United States constitution guarantees each citizen the right to petition the government. Built and launched in 2011, We the People offered a powerfully simple way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition crossed the threshold of signatures, policy officials reviewed it and published an official response.

The following sample of infographics were updates from the White House to the public on the performance of the We the People petitions platform over time. This was done to promote transparency, increase public use of the tool, and to promote accountability in the White House’s role in assessing and responding to the petitions.

Data pulls: Pete Welsch
Copy: Ezra Mechaber
Design: Ashleigh Axios

See a related project, the We the People site redesign.

We the People Numbers After One Year

The infographic reads

Happy birthday, We the People! The White House petitions platform turns one.

• Total signatures: 3,413,176

• New signatures (avg per month): 284,431

• Total users: 2,853,674

• New users (avg per month): 237,806

• Total petitions: 50,348

• New petitions (avg per month): 4,196

Data from: 2011–2012
Launched: September 2012

Petition Growth Over Time

The infographic reads

Petition Growth:

• Total signatures: 9,178,278

• Total users: 5,410,525

Data from: 2011–2013
Launched: January 2013

We the People Update

The infographic reads

• Total users: 2,756,057

• Total petitions: 45,901

• Total signatures: 3,320,520

Top 5 petition categories

• Human rights

• Civil rights

• Economy

• Government reform

• Family

Signatures

• Most signatures on a petition: 150,945

• Average signatures per hour: 406

• Percent that have signed more than 1 petition: 15.2%

Responses

• Petitions have crossed the threshold for a response: 112

• Agencies & departments that have responded: 20

• Have received a response: 11 million

Surveyed signers who received a response say

• Would create or sign another petition: 89%

• The response was helpful: 78%

• Learned something new: 50%

Data from: 2011–2012
Launched: July 2012

We the People Update

The infographic reads

• Total users: 5,410,525

• Total petitions: 141,310

• Total signatures: 9,178,278

Top 5 petition categories

• Civil rights

• Government reform

• Human rights

• Economy

• Family

Signatures

• Average signatures per hour: 807

• Most signatures on a single petition: 318,283

Responses

• Petitions that have received an official response: 162

• Users who have received a response: 2.1 million

• Agencies and departments who have authored a response: 21

Surveyed signers who received a response say:

• Would create of sign another petition: 86%

• The response was helpful: 66%

• Learned something new: 50%

Data from: 2011–2013
Launched: January 2013

Details

Copy: Megan Slack
Design: Ashleigh Axios

The infographic reads

What is the national instant criminal background check system?

Established in 1993, it’s kept more than 2 million guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

The problem?
Because of loopholes, anyone can buy a gun from a private seller without a background check. In fact:

• 40% of guns are sold without a background check

• 80% of inmates report using a gun they acquired without a background check

90% of Americans support background checks for all gun sales to prevent people who are a danger to themselves and others from buying guns. Let’s reduce gun violence by strengthening the system. Require background checks for all gun sales.

Created March 2013
Launched April 2013

This series of infographics was made to launch with the Equal Pay policy section of Obama’s WhiteHouse.gov. It breaks down some of the core issues with equal pay in the United States as understood in 2012.

Details

Direction: Colleen Curtis
Copy: Megan Slack
Design: Ashleigh Axios

Created in 2012
Launched June 2012
Updated in June 2013

The Pay Gap is Not a Myth

The infographic reads:

Support Equal Pay for Equal Work

Women earn an average of 78 cents for every dollar earned by men.

The wage gap is not a myth. In 1963, women earned 59 cents for every dollar that men earned. Today, women have made up less than half of that pay gap. A substantial gap persists even when education, industry, and hours are taken into account.

Equal Pay Supports Families

The infographic reads:

Support Equal Pay for Equal Work

In more than 50% of American households, women are breadwinners.

It’s true, in more than 50% of American households, women’s salaries help pay the bills, buy groceries, and provide for their families. When women earn less than their fair share, that loss harms women and weakens their families, communities, and our entire economy.

Equal Pay Closes
the Wage Gap

The infographic reads:

Support Equal Pay for Equal Work

The gender wage gap puts women at a career-long disadvantage.

In 2011, a typical 25-year-old woman working full time all year earned $5,000 less than a typical 25-year-old man. In just ten years, her cumulative lost wages will reach $34,000. According to U.S. Census data, by age 65, the average woman will have lost $431,000 over her working lifetime as a restult of the earnings gap.

Equal Pay Supports Families

The infographic reads:

Support Equal Pay for Equal Work

49,000,000 children depend on women’s salaries.

Today, more than 50 percent of households have women breadwinners. When women earn less than their fair share, that loss harms women and weakens their families, communities, and our entire economy.

Creative Direction, Design, Illustration, Copy: Ashleigh Axios
Partner: Knatokie Ford, PCAST Fellow

Created & Launched December 2013

Infographic Reads

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

Education Technology

Realizing the full potential of innovative technologies in higher education

A letter report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) identifies opportunities to help put an affordable and effective college education within reach for more students in the United States.

The Challenge:
The cost of education in the U.S. is rising.

Over the past three decades:

• The average tuition at a public four year college has increased by more than 250%

• While the average incomes for American families only grew by 16%

There’s a persistent enrollment gap. College enrollment rates consistently vary according to family income level — with the lowest enrollment rates observed in lower-income families.

Of high school graduates in 2011:

• 52% of those who have from low-income families immediately enrolled in college.

• 66% of those who came from middle-income families immediately enrolled in college.

• 82% of those who came from high-income families immediately enrolled in college.

The 30% gap above hasn’t improved in any measurable way in nearly four decades.

Many students do not complete their degree within six years

…

The opportunity: Many emerging technologies have the potential to improve access to higher education. Some have been combined and packaged as massive open online courses of “MOOCs.”

MOOCs enable fundamental innovations in teaching and learning:

• Real time feedback and assessment of student performance

• Scalability of classes to reach broader audiences

• Continuous improvement of course content

• Increased connectivity amongst students

…

More students are utilizing online education: The number of college students taking at least one online course reached an all-time high in 2011.

• In 2002, 1.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course

• In 2011, 6.7 million students were enrolled in at least one online course
  

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Creative Direction, Design, Illustration: Ashleigh Axios

Created & Launched June 2013

Infographic Reads

Climate Change and President Obama’s Action Plan

President Obama has announced a series of Executive Actions to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address global climate change.

Due to climate change, the weather is getting more extreme

2012 was the second most extreme year on record for the nation

• Record heat across the U.S. (state-by-state temperatures in 2012)

• Warmest year on record for the U.S.

• Record high temperatures tied or broken

• Approximately one-third of the U.S. population experienced 100 degree temperatures

Droughts wildfires and floods are all more frequent and intense.

• Participation was 2.57 inches below the 20th Century average.

• 15th driest year on record

• Wildfires burned more than 9.3 million U.S. acres

Extreme weather comes at a cost. Climate and weather disasters in 2012 cost the American economy more than $100 billion.

• $30 billion estimated across the U.S. for drought and heatwaves

• $65 billion estimated towards superstorm sandy

• $11.1 billion estimated for incidentals of combined severe weather across the U.S.

• $1 billion estimated toward western wildfires

• $2.3 billion estimated toward hurricane Isaac

There are also public health threats associated with extreme weather. Children, the elderly, and the poor are most vulnerable to a range of climate-related health effects, including those related to heat stress, air pollution, extreme weather events, and diseases carried by food, flood water, and insects.

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