While WIC programs operate under a set of federal rules and policies, state and local WIC agencies have considerable flexibility to determine how they certify new applicants and ongoing...

One way states can build more broadly shared prosperity is by strengthening their taxes on capital gains — the profits an investor realizes when selling an asset that has grown in value, such as shares of stock, mutual funds, real estate, or artwork.

The 2.2 million uninsured adults with incomes below the poverty line who were caught in the Medicaid “coverage gap” in 2019 are a varied group, but they all live in states that have failed to adopt the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion.

When parents have health insurance, their children are more likely to be insured, a highly credible recent study confirms. Medicaid coverage expansions for parents over the years, including the Affordable Care Act’s expansion, have translated into significant coverage gains for children.

Millions report that their households did not get enough to eat or are not caught up on rent payments.

Targeted text messaging offers a promising option to states planning strategies to reach more families eligible for WIC, as several recent pilot programs have shown it may help increase awareness about and enrollment in the program.

When President Trump took office in January 2017, he inherited an economy in its 91st month of economic expansion following the end of the Great Recession in June 2009. That expansion continued into 2020, becoming the longest on record, but a sharp contraction in economic activity arising from COVID-19 ended it.

The federal-state unemployment insurance (UI) system helps many people who have lost their jobs by temporarily replacing part of their wages. (See “Policy Basics: Unemployment Insurance.”) Under...

States must balance their budgets even when they face recessions and other unexpected shocks to their revenues.

SNAP is essential to helping low-income households put food on the table.

The nation now needs to make investments in children, workers, and health care that will enable more people to reach their full potential.

Tax law and policy experts have widely criticized the deduction.

Federal rental assistance helps struggling seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and working families keep a roof over their heads, often by helping them afford rental units they find in the private market. Ten million people in over 5 million low-income households receive federal rental assistance.

The proposal provides our first comprehensive view of the Administration’s agenda for building toward a more equitable economy where everyone can thrive.

Income significantly contributes to opportunities for good health.[1] People with higher incomes can more easily afford to meet the full range of their children’s needs, from nutritious food and...

Raising corporate taxes by a modest amount will not undermine the economic recovery and, in fact, using those revenues to finance needed investments will help make the economy stronger.

Congress should adopt these proposed changes, which would result in reductions of child poverty and provide income support for millions of people. And it should go two steps further.

When schools closed in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19, federal policymakers enacted new laws to enable the nation’s child nutrition programs for lower-income schoolchildren to shift their...

In upcoming recovery legislation, Congress should include a significant infusion of federal funds to build and repair K-12 schools.

Under the ACA, older adults’ uninsured rate has dropped by a third, indicators of their health and wellness have improved, and they’re now protected from coverage exclusions and cost increases due to pre-existing conditions.

One of policymakers’ top priorities in recovery legislation should be to provide housing vouchers to a larger share of families in need.

Income and wealth have become increasingly concentrated in recent decades as the fortunes of those at the very top have surged.

The American Rescue Plan is not only an extraordinary federal policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its severe attendant hardships, but also a historic opportunity to begin undoing...

The proposals constitute a ground-breaking agenda to move us toward an equitable economy and address problems that have plagued our nation for decades.