Public is sharply divided in views of Americans in poverty
Poverty is an issue that deeply divides the American public when it comes to how much of a role government should play in alleviating the problems of the poor.
One-in-four Native Americans and Alaska Natives are living in poverty
On his visit to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota today, President Obama is using his first stop at a Native American reservation while in office to highlight the challenges Native Americans face. In an op-ed published in Indian Country Today, Obama called the poverty and high school dropout rates among Native Americans […]
Minimum wage hasn’t been enough to lift most out of poverty for decades
The current federal minimum wage falls below the poverty threshold for most households. A new CBO report says raising the minimum will increase income for millions of low-wage workers but cost thousands their jobs.
Inequality, poverty divide Republicans more than Democrats
There are wide gaps between conservative and centrist Republicans on whether the government should do something to reduce poverty and inequality.
Who’s poor in America? 50 years into the ‘War on Poverty,’ a data portrait
The War on Poverty was arguably the most ambitious domestic policy initiative since the Great Depression. But the overall effectiveness of the War on Poverty remains hotly debated.
Four takeaways from Tuesday’s Census income and poverty release
On Tuesday the Census Bureau released its annual trove of data on income, poverty and health insurance in 2012. Here were some of the key findings on household income: New data show that median household income has stagnated for the longest period since the government began collecting such data in 1967. In 2012 the median […]
King’s “I have a dream” speech, by the numbers
Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech 50 years ago today on Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks has become one of the most famous, and quoted, pieces of oratory in U.S. history (though that wasn’t apparent to everyone at the time). But how well have the aspirations King so memorably expressed been realized? We ran […]
Are blacks as financially well off as whites? Depends on whom you ask
Despite large and persistent gaps between blacks and whites on virtually every indicator of economic well-being, about half of all whites say the average black person is about as well off financially or doing better than the average white person, according to a survey released last week by the Pew Research Center.
The politics and demographics of food stamp recipients
The House on July 11 passed a farm bill stripped of funding for food stamps. A Pew Research survey last year found about one-in-five (22%) of Democrats say they had received food stamps compared with 10% of Republicans.
Chart of the Week: The landscape of food assistance
A chart based on American Community Survey data shows how unevenly food stamp recipients are distributed across the country.
