Congress should set overall non-defense appropriations at a level adequate to meet national priorities, remedy shortfalls that hamper delivery of government services, and help build a stronger, more equitable economy.

Despite the economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term outlook for the Social Security trust funds has improved slightly, the latest annual report from the program’s trustees...

In a typical month in 2018, SNAP helped more than 40 million low-income Americans afford a nutritionally adequate diet.

Research shows that SNAP is one of our most effective tools in reducing hunger and food insecurity, which occurs when a lack of resources causes household members to struggle to afford enough food for an active, healthy life during the entire year. As a result, it plays a critical role in our country.

The trustees now project that the reserves of the combined Social Security trust funds will be depleted one years later than in last years’ report, and Medicare’s Hospital Insurance trust fund two years later.

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.

If Congress does not act this summer, the large majority of the 14.5 million people who signed up for marketplace coverage this year, including those in low- and moderate-income households, will either lose coverage or pay much more for premiums in 2023.

The demands on the Social Security Administration are extraordinarily high. Yet Congress has cut SSA’s core operating budget by 17 percent since 2010.

Summer P-EBT is a highly effective strategy to reduce food hardship among families with children. If all states participate, the program could provide over $13 billion in fully federally funded benefits to more than 36 million children nationwide.

In addition to spending their own funds, states play an important role in implementing federal programs and deciding how to spend federal funds ― for example, designing the health services provided...

Millions of people could lose health coverage when the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends — possibly later this year — and states resume their regular eligibility reviews of all Medicaid enrollees. But massive coverage losses aren’t inevitable. States now have at least five additional months to prepare and should take steps now to ensure that eligible individuals remain on Medicaid and to help those no longer eligible for Medicaid transition to other coverage.

A new proposal would increase the number of families in every state who can afford child care, improve the quality of child care in every state, and establish a pilot program so that some states can test how to create a more robust system.

This brief simulates how three levels of SNAP average benefit increases — 20 percent, 27 percent, and 40 percent — could impact food spending and diet quality.

New research finds that increasing SNAP benefits is expected to increase low-income households’ spending on food prepared at home and improve the nutritional quality of the foods purchased, with slightly larger positive effects for households with children.

Studies demonstrate, over and over again, that poverty harms children’s development and that providing families with low incomes with financial resources can improve children’s development,...

In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren’t subject to filibuster and the scope of amendments is limited, giving this process real advantages for enacting controversial budget and tax measures.

States are taking steps to advance environmental protection and environmental justice using flexible State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF) provided through the American Rescue Plan. With a...

SSI benefits are critical for those who need them, but SSI is woefully out of date.

The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022’s key provisions, which would expand the federal tax subsidies for retirement saving, mainly help people with higher incomes and financially secure retirements — who benefit the most from existing subsidies — and would do little for people with low and moderate incomes, who have much more pressing needs.

As states make decisions about how to allocate the rest of their recovery funds, they should make investments that center racial and economic equity to support the people and communities hardest hit by the pandemic and help ensure a widespread and equitable recovery.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was billed by its supporters as an effort to improve cash assistance recipients’ employment opportunities. Instead, it laid the foundation for states to perpetuate racist ideas that have dominated cash assistance programs since their inception.

Housing should remain a priority as states consider using the remainder of their Fiscal Recovery Funds.

The Child Tax Credit, especially when received monthly, has an important role to play in addressing the income volatility that many families face.