The economic recovery legislation provides additional resources to states where more poor families need basic assistance due to the recession and the ... Read more
Both the House and Senate recovery packages include a $25 per week temporary increase in unemployment insurance benefits. Economists, including Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com, ... Read more
Overview In the wake of federal TANF changes, states face key choices as they decide the next direction for their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ... Read more
A recently enacted Child Tax Credit provision will benefit 12.9 million children — 2.4 million who will become newly eligible for the benefit and 10.5 ... Read more
[T]he current downturn is likely to cause significant increases both in the number of Americans who are poor and the number living in "deep poverty," with incomes below half of the poverty line...There are a series of steps that federal and state policymakers could take to soften the recession’s harshest impacts and limit the extent of the increases in deep poverty, destitution, and homelessness. Read more
Congress is properly focused on designing an appropriate measure to address very serious problems in the financial markets, which many experts persuasively argue is essential ... Read more
The number of Americans in poverty climbed by 816,000 in 2007, while the poverty rate remained statistically unchanged, overall median income rose modestly, and the ... Read more
Making sure that sufficient resources are available to shield low-income households from increased poverty and hardship is critical in the design of climate-change policies. Read more
Key Findings The President’s 2009 budget provides $20.5 billion less for domestic discretionary programs outside homeland security than is needed simply to keep pace with inflation. In many areas, the cuts come on top of sizable cuts made in recent years. Examples of the proposed funding levels include (all figures adjusted for inflation): K-12 Education — 9.1 percent below its 2004 level; Head Start — 12 percent below its 2002 level; Repairing and Modernizing Public Housing — 45 percent below its 2001 level; Low-Income Energy Assistance — 22 percent below its 2008 level; Environmental Protection — 26 percent below its 2001 level. These cuts would directly affect millions of Americans. The President’s budget documents, for example, show that the number of children with child care assistance would fall by about 200,000 between 2007 and 2009 under his budget. Many of the cuts would hurt state budgets as well, by reducing support for a range of public services states help provide. Read more
Key Findings In December, the President signed Head Start reauthorization legislation which had broad bipartisan support. The legislation called for expanding the number of low-income children served in the program and for new investments to raise the quality of the program. Two weeks after this legislation was enacted, the omnibus appropriations bill was completed. That legislation cut Head Start funding. Head Start funding in 2008 is 11 percent below the 2002 funding level adjusted only for inflation. Head Start is only one example of a broadly supported program that has been cut often in recent years because overall funding for domestic appropriated programs has been insufficient. Read more
