Poverty and Income Archive
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SSI and Children with Disabilities: Just the Facts
December 14, 2012
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for low-income disabled children are back in the news, in part because of a recent New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof.[1] Unfortunately, the program is being subject to some sharp criticism that is based on misunderstanding of key issues related to SSI for poor children with … -
Media Briefing: Examining Wide and Growing Income Gaps in the States
November 15, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute held a joint conference call briefing on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 to discuss a major new state-by-state report on income inequality. -
Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends
November 15, 2012
A state-by-state examination finds that income inequality has grown in most parts of the country since the late 1970s. Over the past three business cycles prior to 2007, the incomes of the country’s highest-income households climbed substantially, while middle- and lower-income households saw only modest increases. During the … -
Wide and Growing Income Gaps in Most States, New Report Finds
November 15, 2012
The gaps between the incomes of the richest households and low- and middle-income households are wide and growing in most states, according to a major new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute that examines inequality at the state level. Across all states, the average income of the richest fifth of households was … -
Are Low-Income Programs Enlarging the Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Problem?
Revised November 2, 2012
Several conservative analysts and some journalists lately have cited figures showing substantial growth in recent years in the cost of federal programs for low-income Americans. A recent report the Congressional Research Service prepared for Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) provides one such set of figures.[1] These figures can create … -
A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality
Revised October 23, 2012
The broad facts of income inequality over the past six decades are easily summarized: The years from the end of World War II into the 1970s were ones of substantial economic growth and broadly shared prosperity. Incomes grew rapidly and at roughly the same rate up and down the income ladder, roughly doubling … -
Social Security Keeps 21 Million Americans Out of Poverty: A State-by-State Analysis
October 16, 2012
Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty. Without Social Security, 21.4 million more Americans would be poor, according to the latest available Census data (for 2011). Although most of those whom Social Security keeps out of poverty are elderly, nearly a third are under age 65, including 1.1 million children.… -
Uninsured Rate Fell or Held Steady in Almost Every State Last Year, New Census Data Show
September 21, 2012
The share of residents without health coverage fell in 20 states last year, Census data released yesterday show, while rising in just one. This improvement largely reflect increased private coverage among young adults — helped by a health reform provision allowing them to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26 … -
2011’s Decline in Uninsured is Largest in 13 Years, but Median Income Fell, Inequality Widened, and Poverty Stayed Flat
September 17, 2012
The Census Bureau last week released a mixed set of data about poverty, income, and health insurance coverage in 2011.[1] On the positive side, the number of Americans without health insurance dropped by 1.3 million and the share of uninsured Americans fell by more than in any year since 1999. Young adults took advantage of a … -
Number of Uninsured Fell in 2011, Largely Due to Health Reform and Public Programs
September 13, 2012
The Census Bureau announced yesterday that, in 2011, the number of uninsured Americans fell for the first time in four years, and the percentage of Americans without health insurance experienced the largest single-year drop since 1999. The Census data suggest that health reform and other federal policies are responsible for a significant … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Census’ 2011 Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Data
September 12, 2012
Today’s Census data contained the good, the fair, and the ugly. The good news is that the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million and the share of Americans without insurance fell by more than in any year since 1999; the fair news is that the poverty rate stayed flat after … -
Media Briefing: Examining the 2011 Census Data on Poverty, Health Insurance Coverage, and Income
September 12, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing to examine the Census Bureau data for 2011 on poverty, health insurance coverage, and income trends.
Robert Greenstein, the Center’s President, was joined by Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, to discuss the new data.
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The Census Bureau’s Upcoming Report on Health Insurance Coverage in 2011: What to Watch For
September 10, 2012
On September 12, the Census Bureau will release estimates of the number of Americans with and without health insurance coverage in 2011, based on its annual Current Population Survey. Other survey data and historical trends provide clues as to what the Census data are likely to show. Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease … -
What to Look for in Wednesday’s Poverty Data — And What the Official Data Won’t Tell Us
September 10, 2012
On September 12, the Census Bureau will release official poverty figures for 2011, as well as additional data related to the impact of various safety net programs in keeping people out of poverty last year. What to Look For: Poverty could rise again; if it does, it will have risen significantly in 8 of the last 11 years. Such an … -
Declines in Unemployment Benefits and Government Employment Shaped Poverty Trends in 2011, Preliminary Data Suggest
September 7, 2012
The Census Bureau will release official 2011 poverty figures on September 12. If the figures show that poverty rose, as some analysts predict, two key factors will almost certainly be a reduction in unemployment insurance benefits in 2011 and a decline in public-sector jobs, particularly among state and local government workers. In … -
House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Would Throw 2 to 3 Million People Off of SNAP
Updated September 5, 2012
On July 12th the House Agriculture Committee passed its 2012 farm bill, H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012 (FARRM.) [1] The bill would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) by $16.5 billion over the next decade, eliminating food … -
How States Have Spent Federal and State Funds Under the TANF Block Grant
August 7, 2012
Some policymakers have cited the replacement of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant under the 1996 welfare law as a model for how to dramatically restructure other federally funded programs for low-income families. House Budget Committee Chairman … -
Proposed “Tax Reform” Requirements Would Invite Higher Deficits and a Shift in Taxes to Low- and Moderate-Income Families
July 31, 2012
Republican legislation that was introduced in the Senate by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and in the House by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) would establish requirements for tax-reform legislation that could generate higher deficits and substantially shift tax burdens … -
SNAP Plays a Critical Role in Helping Children
July 17, 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation’s largest child nutrition program, providing benefits to help one in three children in the nation to be able to eat a nutritionally sound diet. As such, SNAP is crucially important to children’s health and … -
Testimony of Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means on Work Disincentives and the Safety Net
June 27, 2012
Chairmen Davis and Tiberi and ranking members Rep. Doggett and Rep. Neal, I thank you for inviting me to testify on this important question of our safety net and tax benefit programs and their impact on work. My first point, however, is that I believe it is essential to broaden the question at the heart of this hearing. For policy makers to gain a full … -
How Tax Reform Could Become a Trap:
June 8, 2012
Policymakers are increasingly discussing the need for tax reform, with a number of them calling for large cuts in tax rates — to levels well below the Bush tax rates — as a core element of reform. They contend that sweeping but unspecified cuts in tax expenditures (credits, deductions, and other tax preferences) will offset … -
Statement by Robert Greenstein, President, on Speaker Boehner's Recent Remarks Concerning the Debt Limit
May 16, 2012
No one should underestimate the significance of House Speaker John Boehner's declaration yesterday that he will block an increase in the debt limit next winter unless policymakers match each dollar of debt limit increase with at least a dollar in budget cuts, with no revenue increases. This … -
Toomey Budget Similar to House-Passed Ryan Budget
May 9, 2012
The Senate may take up, as early as this week, a budget proposal from Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)[1] that is similar in most important respects to the budget resolution from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which the House passed on March 29. [2] Like the Ryan budget, the Toomey plan (S. Con. Res. 37) would protect and extend tax cuts that … -
Testimony of Stacy Dean, Vice President for Food Assistance Policy, Before the House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture
May 8, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Stacy Dean, Vice President for Food Assistance Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan policy institute located here in Washington. The Center is an independent, non-profit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and … -
Eliminating Social Services Block Grant Would Weaken Services for Vulnerable Children, Adults, and Disabled
May 3, 2012
To help generate the savings required by the House-approved budget, the House Ways and Means Committee voted on April 18 to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), a uniquely flexible funding source that helps states meet the specialized needs of their most vulnerable populations, primarily low- and moderate-income children and people who are … -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein Before the House Budget Committee Hearing on Strengthening the Safety Net
April 17, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Bob Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute located here in Washington. I also served many years ago as Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA, which operates the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, … -
Blog Post: Low-Income Programs Would Bear the Brunt of Ryan Cuts
March 23, 2012
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Chairman Ryan Gets 62 Percent of His Huge Budget Cuts from Programs for Lower-Income Americans
March 23, 2012
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan would get at least 62 percent of its $5.3 trillion in nondefense budget cuts over ten years (relative to a continuation of current policies) from programs that serve people of limited means. This stands a core principle of President Obama’s fiscal commission on its head and … -
Blog Post: Greenstein on the Ryan Budget
March 21, 2012
We’ve issued a statement from Robert Greenstein on the budget from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. Here’s the opening: The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan's Budget Plan
March 21, 2012
The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids. It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S.… -
TANF Weakening as a Safety Net For Poor Families
March 13, 2012
Many policymakers continue to claim that the 1996 welfare reform law which created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was a major success. They see the TANF program's design and block grant structure as a model for the reform of other safety net programs.[1] TANF's record over the last 15 years shows, however, that its role as … -
Incomes at the Top Rebounded in First Full Year of Recovery, New Analysis of Tax Data Shows
March 7, 2012
Incomes of the top 1 percent of households, which fell in the financial crisis and Great Recession, rose strongly in 2010, the first full year of the economic recovery, according to a new analysis by economist Emmanuel Saez.[1] The new analysis, which incorporates 2009 and 2010 IRS data into the historical series on pre-tax income created … -
Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households
February 10, 2012
Some conservative critics of federal social programs, including leading presidential candidates, are sounding an alarm that the United States is rapidly becoming an “entitlement society” in which social programs are undermining the work ethic and creating a large class of Americans who prefer to depend on government benefits rather … -
Testimony of Jared Bernstein Before the Senate Budget Committee on Assessing Inequality, Mobility, and Opportunity
February 9, 2012
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Video: A Discussion with Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang on Capital Gains Tax
January 31, 2012
“There are lots of good reasons to get rid of” the preferential tax treatment of capital gains, Chye-Ching Huang tells Jared Bernstein in this video.
She notes, for instance, that “at the same time that capital gains income has been growing really rapidly, and growing at the very top of the income distribution, we have been cutting the rates. That is one of the major reasons why the tax system hasn’t been doing as much to push against income inequality as it used to.”
Chye-Ching and Jared discuss what capital gains are and the tax advantages they receive compared to ordinary income.
Duration: 4:52
