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Poverty & Economic Mobility

ASPE releases the annual U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines, which are used to determine financial eligibility for some Federal programs. Presented here are the poverty lines for every State and the District of Columbia. You will also find extensive resources on poverty estimates, trends, and analysis, plus historical information on poverty and the Guidelines. More broadly, this section also encompasses issues like poverty and income dynamics, and asset building and financial literacy.

Reports

Displaying 31 - 40 of 429. 10 per page. Page 4.

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Research Brief

Complex Rules and Barriers to Self-Sufficiency in Safety Net Programs: Perspectives of Working Parents

This brief discusses the perspectives of a group of working parents on receipt of federal benefits. Based on focus groups, it examines program design and implementation, participation barriers, and factors that could help working parents more readily reach financial independence. Highlights are:
Research Brief

Risks that Come with Increasing Earnings for Low-Income Workers Receiving Safety Net Programs: Perspectives of Working Parents

In focus group discussions with 44 working parents receiving assistance from one or more federal programs, many parents shared the view that increasing earnings involves a number of risks. Participants described the sequence of possible risk events as follows:
Fact Sheet

Factsheet: Estimates of Child Care Eligibility and Receipt for Fiscal Year 2018

This factsheet provides descriptive information on child care eligibility and receipt. Of the 12.8 million children eligible for child care subsidies under federal rules, 15 percent received subsidies. Of the 8.4 million children eligible for child care subsidies under state rules, 23 percent received subsidies. Poorer children were more likely to receive subsidies than less poor children.
Report, Report to Congress

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors, 20th Report to Congress

This report provides welfare dependence indicators through 2018 for most indicators and through 2019 for other indicators, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996.
Report

Announcement of the Availability of Funds and Request for Applications for a Cooperative Agreement to Establish a National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility

The goal of this solicitation is to improve the effectiveness of public policies that reduce poverty, inequality, and their consequences, promote economic mobility and equity, and further develop knowledge of the structural causes of poverty, inequality, and economic insecurity.
ASPE Issue Brief

COVID-19 and Economic Opportunity: Unequal Effects on Economic Need and Program Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented economic and social impact on Americans, with particularly harsh effects on people in certain race and ethnic groups. Public programs intended to address these needs have also had uneven reach, with many less likely to benefit families of color.
ASPE Issue Brief

COVID-19 and Economic Opportunity: Inequities in the Employment Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented economic crisis with inequitable effects. Overall employment figures mask the disparate impacts on some communities of color, women, and low-wage workers. These groups were more likely to lose jobs, reduce hours worked, or withdraw from the labor market.
Report to Congress

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors: Eighteenth Report to Congress

This report provides welfare dependence indicators through 2016 for most indicators and through 2017 for some indicators, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996.
Report to Congress

Welfare Indicators and Risk Factors: Nineteenth Report to Congress

This report provides welfare dependence indicators through 2017 for most indicators and through 2018 for other indicators, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996.

Economic Hardship and Medicaid Enrollment in Later Life: Assessing the Impact of Disability, Health, and Marital Status Shocks

Richard W. Johnson and Melissa M. Favreault Urban Institute January 2021 Link to Printer Friendly Version in PDF Format (50 PDF pages)