Effectiveness of Antipoverty Policies and State Differences in Cost of Living
In our latest brief, we find that the main reason antipoverty programs seem to make less of a difference in high-cost areas is simply that the costs in those areas are greater. Our analyses show that costs of living are critical to the accurate assessment of state-level poverty rates and the true impact of antipoverty programs.
Recent Trends in Food Stamp Usage and Implications for Increased Work Requirements
Proponents of the efforts to expand SNAP work requirements argue that “work-capable” adults are increasingly taking up SNAP benefits while working less. We find that “work-capable” adults do not represent a growing segment of the SNAP caseload and a majority of “work-capable” adults who receive SNAP are working during the year that they receive benefits.
A Child Tax Credit in California: Correcting Inequities Created by the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act Would Cut Deep Child Poverty by Nearly One-Third
Correcting inequalities in the Child Tax Credit created by the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act would cut deep poverty among children in California by nearly a third
Raising Rents for HUD Housing Program Recipients Would Throw Over Half a Million Americans into Poverty
The Making Affordable Housing Work Act of 2018, a recent proposal issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), outlines a plan to raise rental payments for almost all households that participate in HUD’s housing programs. Our analysis finds that this proposal would deplete the cash resources of participant households by over $750 per year, on average, and move over half a million people into poverty.
Forgoing Food Assistance out of Fear: Changes to “Public Charge” Rule May Put 500,000 More U.S. Citizen Children at Risk of Moving into Poverty
Immigrant parents, many of whom have citizen children who are entitled to SNAP benefits, are increasingly fearful that any interaction with the government will lead to arrest and deportation. We present estimates of the potential impact of this proposal on child poverty.
A Renter’s Tax Credit to Curtail the Affordable Housing Crisis
To address the housing affordability crisis for low-income Americans, we argue for a refundable renter’s tax credit that could reduce the poverty rate by 12.4 percentage points and the deep poverty rate by 8.8 percentage points.
Taking Food off the Table: Understanding who would be affected by potential SNAP cuts and how
We estimated the potential impacts of the House budget proposal to cut SNAP by 40% and found that such a cut would impact 24 million people and cause the poverty rate among SNAP recipients to increase by up to 10.9%.