41 research outputs found
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Measuring Poverty in the United States
This fact sheet discusses how the U.S. government measures poverty, why the current measure is inadequate, and what alternative ways exist to measure economic hardship
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Paid Leave in the States: A Critical Support for Low-wage Workers and Their Families
This brief discusses the benefits of paid family leave, examines existing state-level policies, and provides recommendations for how state policies could be crafted to best serve the needs of low-wage workers and their families
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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
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Who are America's Poor Children?: The Official Story
Over 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is 42,400 for a family of four – are referred to as low income. Thirty-nine percent of the nation’s children – more than 28 million in 2007 – live in low-income families. Nonetheless, official poverty statistics continue to be used by researchers, policymakers, and the media to define economic disadvantage. In addition, eligibility for many public benefits is based on the official poverty measure. This fact sheet details some of the characteristics of American children who are considered poor by the official standard
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Measuring Poverty in the United States
This fact sheet discusses how the U.S. government measures poverty, why the current measure is inadequate, and what alternative ways exist to measure economic hardship
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Measuring Income and Poverty in the United States
This fact sheet discusses how the U.S. government measures poverty, why the current measure is inadequate, and what alternative ways exist to measure economic hardship
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Child Poverty and Intergenerational Mobility
The promise of the American Dream is that in our society, anyone can succeed with hard work and persistence. Even in the current economic downturn, the majority of Americans (72 percent) believe that it is possible to start out poor, work hard, and become wealthy. But does this promise hold true for America's children? How common is it for people who spend part of their childhood living in poverty to experience poverty as adults? How does this vary by how much time children spend living in poverty? And does it vary by race? Economic mobility, the ability to move up or down the economic ladder during one's lifetime and across generations, is central to the ideal of the American Dream. But recent research finds that there are limitations to mobility in the United States. For example, one study of families across generations finds that one's economic position is strongly influenced by that of one's parents: 42 percent of children born to parents in the bottom fifth of the economic distribution remain in the bottom as adults and another 23 percent rise only to the second fifth, while 39 percent of children born to parents at the top of the income distribution remain at the top, with another 23 percent moving to the second fifth. This paper focuses on the lower end of the earnings spectrum and highlights findings from a working paper commissioned by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). In particular, we report how common it is for children to experience poverty throughout the course of childhood — defined as the years from birth to age 15 — and how that relates to the likelihood that they will be poor in young and middle adulthood
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Staying Afloat in Tough Times: What States Are and Aren't Doing to Promote Family Economic Security
Staying Afloat in Tough Times tracks state-level policies that help families both avoid and cope with economic hardship. The report examines three categories of policies: work attachment and advancement, income adequacy, and asset development and protection. Although states have taken the lead over the last decade in policy efforts to help low income families, this study demonstrates that assistance is extraordinarily uneven across the states. The authors conclude that America needs a national vision of family economic security — and the leadership to implement it
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Low-Income Families in Massachusetts: Results from the Family Resource Simulator
About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work, and most have at least one parent working full-time, year-round. Nonetheless, many of these parents are unable to afford basic necessities for their families, such as food, housing, and stable child care. Even a full-time job is not always enough to make ends meet, and many parents cannot get ahead simply by working more. As earnings increase—particularly as they rise above the official poverty level—families begin to lose eligibility for work supports. At the same time, work-related expenses, such as child care and transportation, increase. This means that parents may earn more without a family experiencing more financial security. In some cases, earning more actually leaves a family with fewer resources after the bills are paid.
The Family Resource Simulator, developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty, illustrates how this happens. This web-based tool calculates resources and expenses for a hypothetical family that the user "creates" by selecting city and state, family characteristics, income sources, and assets. The user also selects which public benefits the family receives when eligible and makes choices about what happens when the family loses benefits (e.g., does the family seek cheaper child care after losing a subsidy?).
The result is a series of charts that show the hypothetical family's total income from various sources as earnings rise, as well as the cost of basic family expenses. Using the Simulator, this report describes the experiences of two hypothetical families in the workforce
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On the Edge in the Empire State: New York's Low-Income Children
This fact sheet shows that families in New York are struggling despite small family sizes and high rates of parental employment. More than two out of every five children in New York State live in low-income families. Low-income rates are even higher in New York City, where more than half of the children live in low-income families