Research & Reports | Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work

Poverty

Tackling Child Poverty: What the U.S. Can Learn from Britain
(Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity - July 12, 2010)

Jane Waldfogel, professor of Social Work and Public Affairs at Columbia University, discusses the success of Britain's campaign to end child poverty. Implemented by the Labour government, in office from 1997 to 2010, the campaign has reduced child poverty from 26 percent to 12 percent. Although Britain's programs were modeled on U.S. efforts, Waldfogel argues that Britain was able to surpass the U.S. by using a more comprehensive approach to breaking the cycle of poverty including raising the minimum wage and increasing children's school readiness.

What Gets Measured Gets Done: How a Supplemental Federal Poverty Measure Will Drive Smarter Policy
(Center for American Progress - March 2010)

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said New York City Mayor and business magnate Michael Bloomberg in 2007 describing the need for an updated poverty measure. Now it seems he is getting his wish. This article from the Center for American Progress reports the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it will be developing an alternative way to measure poverty. This new method will better reflect the realities facing struggling families and ways in which current government programs can help them to get back on their feet.

Asset Poverty and Debt
(National Center for Children in Poverty - Feb. 2010)

Asset Poverty and Debt Among Families with Children, from the National Center for Children in Poverty, examines the concept of asset poverty and estimates the proportion of families who are asset poor, then examines debt and financial assets of families with children. The brief concludes with policy implications and recommendations to promote financial security of families with children.

Short-Term Labor Solutions to Reduce Long-Term Poverty among Minorities
(Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity - Feb. 2010)

In this commentary, Christian Weller and Luke Reidenbach of the Center for American Progress argue that to help vulnerable groups overcome economic challenges during the recession, lawmakers must implement policies that support targeted employment initiatives, unionization and educational job training. The authors argue that such labor policies can help African Americans, Hispanics and low-skilled workers, who have historically faced structural barriers to employment and economic security, and are the first to experience job losses and face poverty during an economic crisis. Specifically, the authors urge policymakers to increase funding for programs such as AmeriCorps or YouthBuild that target young, minority workers, provide additional funding for programs that support skill development, and support legislation that allows more workers to unionize for livable wages and benefits.

Target Practice: Lessons for Poverty Reduction

This report, by Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons of the Center for Law and Social Policy, outlines how governments (local, state and the federal) can use targets (goals and timelines to achieve those goals) as a policy tool for reducing poverty by drawing on lessons learned from targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and homelessness.

Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short

This report, from the Working Poor Families Project, provides critical national and state data on the percent of low-income working families and percent of children in low-income working households. The report also examines the conditions of low-income working families relative to the parents' education, health insurance status, and housing costs, and calls for stronger federal and state policies to address these conditions.

The Straight Facts on Women in Poverty

This report, from the Center for American Progress, discusses the fact that women in America are more likely than men to be poor across all racial and ethnic groups. In fact, poverty rates for males and females are the same throughout childhood, but increase for women during their childbearing years and again in old age. Why? Consider the following:

Women are paid less than men, even when they have the same qualifications and work hours.
Pregnancy affects women’s work and educational opportunities more than men’s.
Domestic and sexual violence can push women into a cycle of poverty.

America's disparity in poverty rates between men and women is wider than anywhere else in the Western world. Ending the gender wage gap will require policy solutions that promote the equal social and economic status of women.