As in any other playoff, candidate rhetoric let loose during the U.S. presidential race can be tough. We’ve held a front row seat to the 2012 showdown for over a year, with tensions still rising as the general election looms nearer. Some of the barbs launched along the campaign trail have been laughable: Newt Gingrich’s television ad incriminating Mitt Romney for his ability to speak French comes to mind. Others are not. The dialogue surrounding U.S. poverty and inequality, two issues that are hotter than ever during a deep recession that the nation has shown incapable of simply shaking off [...]
Welfare
Welfare reform damaged safety net
Recent reports confirm that the welfare program is unprepared for times of economic hardship. Federal block grants have not increased and nor have welfare rolls, but poverty and unemployment have risen dramatically. Many experts believe welfare reform is a primary reason why more families are in deep poverty, and worry that similar reforms of SNAP and... »
Welfare overhaul’s impact on America’s poorest
States receive the same amount of federal funding for welfare benefits as they did 15 years ago, although their caseloads are down by two-thirds. But much of this money will never be used to supplement incomes, since states can transfer almost unlimited sums to other programs with some connection to the needy. That means... »
Welfare limits left poor adrift as recession took hold
Welfare reform in the 1990s dramatically lowered states’ cash welfare rolls, and the rolls have stayed low since, despite the worst economy in decades. Only 30 percent of federal welfare funds go to cash benefits; much is being diverted to other human services programs to fill budget holes. Meanwhile, without aid, the number of the very... »
San Francisco’s scavengers: A story of gangs, poverty and recycling
Poor and homeless people have taken advantage of the bottle bill provision of California’s Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction measures to earn income by collecting beverage containers for redemption at the Haight-Ashbury Neighbourhood Centre (HANC) in San Francisco. As the recession worsened, middle class and retired individuals, as well as organized gangs, took... »
Fla. law requires drug tests as prerequisite for aid
Florida recently joined states such as New York and Arizona in imposing requirements on the poor before they can receive public assistance. The law, currently blocked by a federal judge, requires urine samples and drug tests, while New York and Arizona demand fingerprints. Is this, as writer Andrew Rosenthal argues, “unnecessary, costly and punitive?” »
Effects of a Welfare Program on Infant Health: State Earned Income Tax Credits and Birth Weight.
American Sociological Review This study seeks to answer two questions: Are there associations between prenatal poverty and lower birth weights, and how have recent expansions of a work-based welfare program affected maternal and infant health? In particular, the study estimates the effects of the pregnant woman’s poverty on the birth weight of her child,... »
More than Nickels and Dimes: A Cross-National Analysis of Working Poverty in Affluent Democracies
Society for the Study of Social Problems Using the Luxembourg Income Study (2009), this article analyzes data from 18 affluent democracies to determine when an individual is considered working poor. The study demonstrates that working poverty does not simply mirror overall poverty and that there is greater cross-national variation in what’s considered working poverty... »
Basic needs require much more money than official poverty pay
To meet basic needs a California family needs almost triple the income cutoff the federal government applies in deciding who is poor, a recent study finds. The study, conducted by California’s Insight Center for Economic Community Development, reveals an entire class of people whose earnings rank them above the poverty line but who lack decent food, housing... »
Candidate for California governor alleges widespread welfare abuse
Republican Californian gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has engendered controversy with rhetoric that seems to target welfare recipients as key contributors to financial waste and abuse in state government. In a recent radio advertisement, Whitman alleged that aid recipients use welfare ATM cards to withdraw cash at casinos. Welfare advocates say fraud occurs on a... »
Indiana seeks to expand hybrid welfare service
Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration is seeking federal approval to expand its experimental “hybrid” welfare system to 11 more counties. The system, which combines face-to-face contact with automated features such as call centers and document imaging, is credited with delivering food stamp requalifications more quickly and lowering the percentage of applications for Medicaid... »