47 research outputs found
Two Steps Forward and Three Steps Back: The "Cliff Effect" - Colorado's Curious Penalty for Increased Earnings
Simply being employed does not mean economic self-sufficiency for women in Colorado. In fact, it may actually work against them. Currently in Colorado, public assistance for the working poor isn't designed to allow women the opportunity to incrementally increase their wages to work toward self-sufficiency. In fact, as a family's earnings increase and they rise above the official poverty level, they begin to lose eligibility for tax credits, childcare subsidies, health care coverage and food stamps even though they are not yet self-sufficient. So although parents may be working and earning more, their families can't reach financial security. This is called the Cliff Effect, and it results in many women refusing pay increases, forcing them to live a life of dependence. We conducted groundbreaking research to learn more about the causes of the Cliff Effect and lay the groundwork for solutions
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Privatizing Survivors, Abandoning Children [Op-Ed]
Despite Social Security’s undeniable success at providing income protection for families, we now face national proposals that would dramatically alter the program. Creating private accounts to replace part of the current system represents a radical departure from the program’s original design. Proponents argue that such accounts would ultimately provide greater security.
But security for whom? What about child beneficiaries—how would they be affected? What about surviving spouses of workers who die, and disabled workers and their families? What about Social Security’s original promise that hard-working people and their families would not be consigned to destitution simply because of early death or disability? These questions have barely been acknowledged, let alone addressed
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Family Economic (In)Security: A View from the States
These are challenging economic times for American families, especially those headed by lowwage workers. But state policy can play an important role in helping those who work hard achieve economic security for their families. This document outlines why state policymakers need to pay more attention to low-wage work, its effects on families and children, and what it takes for low-wage workers to make their families economically secure. It also describes a set of State Family Economic Security Profiles that the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) designed to highlight policy options available to state policymakers, the choices each state has made, and how families are doing economically in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
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When Work Doesn't Pay: What Every Policymaker Should Know
This brief seeks to inform policymakers and others about the difficulties faced by low-income working parents as they strive to make progress in the workforce. Using data from NCCP's Family Resource Simulator, it highlights ways in which the current structure of work support policies often leads to unintended consequences. As low-wage workers increase their earnings above the federal poverty level, their families begin to lose eligibility for government work supports. Given that some of these benefits drop off quickly, earning more does not always improve a family's financial bottom line
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Statement on Establishing a Modern Poverty Measure
I am submitting comments on behalf of the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) to express support for the ideas presented in the draft legislation, the “Measuring American Poverty Act.” The proposal addresses a number of issues I raised in testimony given a year ago at this subcommittee’s hearing on “Measuring Poverty in America” (Cauthen 2007). In brief, I argued that: Because poverty exacts such a high toll on our society, it is critical that we measure it in a meaningful way so that we can address it and measure the degree to which our anti-poverty policies are successful. The National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) 1995 recommendations for improving the official poverty measure offer the most promising – and efficacious – approach to creating a more accurate measure of income poverty. In a wealthy, advanced industrial society such as ours, it is imperative that we supplement measures of income poverty with additional indicators of the health and well-being of our nation’s citizens, especially our youngest. The draft bill addresses all of these points, at least to some degree. This statement further articulates why NCCP supports the substantive intent of the draft bill. It also outlines some additional steps that must be taken if we are to improve our nation’s ability to accurately assess the health and well-being of our citizens
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Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), commonly referred to as "welfare reform," pundits are rushing to declare the effort either an unqualified success or an utter disaster. Despite the hype, most of us know that the truth lies somewhere in between. There have been undeniable successes, yet significant policy challenges remain. Welfare reform is not over
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Improving Work Supports: Closing the Financial Gap for Low-wage Workers and Their Families
Commissioned by the Economic Policy Institute for its Agenda for Shared Prosperity, this report describes why work support benefits are critical for low-wage workers. It explains the current state of work supports in the U.S., highlighting the need to address benefit "cliffs" and high marginal tax rates; funding constraints; and participation barriers. The report concludes with a concrete set of proposals for reform at the national level
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Child Poverty in States Hit by Hurricane Katrina
This fact sheet provides a portrait of poor children in the Gulf Coast states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans and the surrounding region have long been home to some of the poorest children in the country. Over 13% of children in Louisiana live in extreme poverty—that is, in families with an income less than half of the federal poverty level, or $9,675 for a family of four—compared to a national average of 7%. These children are disproportionately African American. These were, and are, families left behind, physically trapped in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama because they also are trapped by poverty. They had no way out because they have few resources—cash, assets, credit cards, bank accounts, cars, and more. Before Katrina, these families experienced hardship, hunger, and other circumstances that make it difficult for children to thrive. Now many face far worse conditions