Today, fresh off the new U.S. Census Bureau poverty numbers, we released The High Cost of Being Poor in the U.S., which explores challenges the 43.1 million adults and children still living in poverty face. These challenges include high costs in areas such as rent, food, child care and predatory…
Archives: Voices
Impossible Choices.
Of course we know that hunger exists in America – and that an estimated 15.3 million children in our country, or one in five, live in a household where there is a real risk they will go hungry. Often studies of childhood hunger involve very young children – up to…
Important gains in median household income, poverty rate, and health coverage. Yet there is more to be done.
Today the U.S. Census Bureau released important new data on poverty, median household income, and the number of Americans covered by health insurance. Below is a statement by CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein responding to the new data. “The official poverty rate is down, median household income is up, and…
Five pints of Guinness
By now you probably have heard the news: The European Union has ruled that Apple has received billions of dollars in illegal tax breaks from Ireland’s government and owes $14.5 billion in back taxes. Although Ireland already has a (relatively low) 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, the EU’s European Commission…
Ignoring an epidemic
This is what the expansion of an epidemic looks like. The Zika virus has now been detected in 67 countries, including most of the Americas. In the 50 states of the U.S., more than 2,500 cases of Zika have been reported, affecting every state except for Alaska and Wyoming. Almost…
The next reform to welfare reform
Editor’s note: This Letter to the Editor originally appeared in the Washington Post on August 24. Make sure to also read Debbie’s entry on TANF’s 20th anniversary posted on this blog on August 22. You can find additional resources on the impact of TANF at it’s 20th anniversary here. The Aug….
We’ve Heard about Income Inequality. What about Wealth Inequality?
You may recognize this statistic: In the U.S., CEOs of large firms make 276 times the pay of an average worker. That is the very definition of income inequality. But now, courtesy of the Center for Economic Development and the Institute for Policy Studies, we are reminded that we need…
TANF at Twenty
Twenty years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the law that placed a time limit on cash assistance for poor families with children and required some degree of work, job search, or training to receive benefits. The new program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), replaced Aid to Families with Dependent…
‘I don’t call it safety net any more. There’s no safety.’
Editor’s note: The following post, first published by the Huffington Post, is co-authored by Lisa Dodson. Dodson is Senior Scientist and Faculty at the Institute for Children, Youth and Family Policy at Brandeis University. “You’d think they want us to fail,” said Marta, a young mother in a Boston parents’…
We don’t do cat videos, but we do engage in serious poverty analysis
Do you wonder if poverty is growing in your state? Would you like to know how to use state and local data about income based on race, age, or gender? Do you know how to access the soon-to-be released Census Bureau poverty, income and health insurance data? And why, why,…
Stop the Debt Trap
The statistics around payday and car title loans are scary: The loans come with interest rates of 300-400 percent on average. The average payday loan customer who borrows $400 for a loan to help them get by until their next paycheck winds up paying back $950 over 11 loan cycles…
In His Final Months in Office, Will President Obama Choose Compassion or More Deportations?
This post was originally published on the National Immigration Law Center’s new blog, the Torch, on June 30. The Supreme Court tie in U.S. v. Texas was a frustrating setback for millions of immigrant families, but the fight must continue and another question of historical significance for immigrants looms large: Will…