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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on food assistance, health care, the safety net, and jobs.

  • On food assistance, Dottie Rosenbaum highlighted a Wall Street Journal article that echoes that SNAP (formerly food stamps) caseloads and spending continue to fall, as we’ve explained.  Brynne Keith-Jennings pointed to new “food insecurity” data that show the economic recovery has yet to reach many low-income families.
  • On health care, January Angeles highlighted a new study showing that expanding Medicaid coverage to pregnant women and children has beneficial long-term health outcomes. Jesse Cross-Call pointed to a new report documenting how hospitals in states that have expanded Medicaid are experiencing a drop in uninsured patients and higher-than-expected revenues.
  • On the safety net, Erica Williams explained how states can build a broader recovery by strengthening their earned income tax credits (EITC) and minimum wages at the same time. Chye-Ching Huang pointed to a new article from the University of California’s Hilary Hoynes on the EITC’s far-reaching benefits.
  • On jobs, Chad Stone illustrated this month’s disappointing jobs report — a sober reminder of how devastating the Great Recession and subsequent prolonged jobs slump have been for American workers.

Chad Stone issued a statement on the August jobs report. We updated our reports on why states should strengthen their EITCs and minimum wages at the same time and best practices for more trusted and reliable state revenue forecasting.  We also updated our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession.

CBPP’s Chart of the Week:

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A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:

Food Stamp Error Rate Declined as Rolls Grew
Stateline
September 4, 2014

Food-Stamp Use Starting to Fall
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2014

The Number Of Homeless Veterans Really Is Falling
FiveThirtyEight
August 27, 2014

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