State Policy Choices: Supports for Low-Income Working Families

Research Brief: Living at the Edge, #1, 2003

The federal poverty level, the standard by which the United States determines economic need, was developed 40 years ago. Data collected in the 1950s indicated that, on average, families spent one-third of their income on food. The original poverty level used the costs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "economy food plan" and multiplied those costs by three.* Today, food comprises far less than one-third of a family's expenses, while housing, transportation, and child care costs have grown disproportionately. Yet we still measure poverty by the original standard developed in the early 1960s. The federal poverty level for a family of four is currently $18,400.* There are 12 million children who live in such families in this country. However, the numbers are far worse. Double the income that is considered "poverty" is needed for most families to provide their children with basic necessities like adequate food, stable housing, and health care. Families who live in this gray area between official poverty and minimum economic security have many of the material hardships and financial pressures that officially poor families face. As their income grows, they rapidly lose eligibility __________ * For more information about the federal poverty level, see the web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: <aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/03poverty.htm>.

2003

The federal poverty level, the standard by which the United States determines economic need, was developed 40 years ago. Data collected in the 1950s indicated that, on average, families spent one-third of their income on food. The original poverty level used the costs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "economy food plan" and multiplied those costs by three.* Today, food comprises far less than one-third of a family's expenses, while housing, transportation, and child care costs have grown disproportionately. Yet we still measure poverty by the original standard developed in the early 1960s. The federal poverty level for a family of four is currently $18,400.* There are 12 million children who live in such families in this country. However, the numbers are far worse. Double the income that is considered "poverty" is needed for most families to provide their children with basic necessities like adequate food, stable housing, and health care. Families who live in this gray area between official poverty and minimum economic security have many of the material hardships and financial pressures that officially poor families face. As their income grows, they rapidly lose eligibility __________ * For more information about the federal poverty level, see the web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: <aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/03poverty.htm>.

2003

2013

Since the Great Depression, the United States has developed a set of supports to help low-income families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities make ends meet and obtain health care. Extensive research indicates that these supports lift millions of Americans out of poverty, help &quot;make work pay&quot; by supplementing low wages, and enable millions of Americans to receive health care who otherwise could not afford it. To be sure, the United States still has a higher poverty rate than many other advanced countries, and many Americans reach adulthood without the tools they need to succeed in the workforce. Various programs and policies, especially in areas such as job training and education, could be reformed and strengthened. But the claim that advocates of shrinking government sometimes make that public efforts to reduce poverty and hardship have failed is belied by the evidence

2015

2007

After nearly a decade of decline, the number of children living in low-income families has increased significantly since 2000. This data book provides national and 50state trend data on the characteristics of low-income children over the past decade: parental education, parental employment, marital status, family structure, race and ethnicity, age distribution, parental nativity, home ownership, residential mobility, type of residential area, and region of residence. The most current year of data can also be accessed at www.nccp.org-see NCCP's 50-State Demographic Profiles or build custom tables using NCCP's 50-State Demographics Wizard. For a discussion of these data and selected policy implications, see NCCP's fact sheets on low-income children, which are updated annually.

2004

About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work, and most have at least one parent working full-time, year-round. Nonetheless, many of these parents are unable to afford basic necessities for their families, such as food, housing, and stable child care. Even a full-time job is not always enough to make ends meet, and many parents cannot get ahead simply by working more. As earnings increase-particularly as they rise above the official poverty level-families begin to lose eligibility for work supports. At the same time, work-related expenses, such as child care and transportation, increase. This means that parents may earn more without a family experiencing more financial security. 1 In some cases, earning more actually leaves a family with fewer resources after the bills are paid. The Family Resource Simulator, developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty, illustrates how this happens. This web-based tool calculates resources and expenses for a hypothetical family that the user "creates" by selecting city and state, family characteristics, income sources, and assets. The user also selects which public benefits the family receives when eligible and makes choices about what happens when the family loses benefits (e.g., does the family seek cheaper child care after losing a subsidy?). The result is a series of charts that show the hypothetical family's total income from various sources as earnings rise, as well as the cost of basic family expenses. Using the Simulator, this report describes the experiences of two hypothetical families in the workforce.

2004

About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work, and most have at least one parent working full-time, year-round. Nonetheless, many of these parents are unable to afford basic necessities for their families, such as food, housing, and stable child care. Even a full-time job is not always enough to make ends meet, and many parents cannot get ahead simply by working more. As earnings increase-particularly as they rise above the official poverty level-families begin to lose eligibility for work supports. At the same time, work-related expenses, such as child care and transportation, increase. This means that parents may earn more without a family experiencing more financial security. 1 In some cases, earning more actually leaves a family with fewer resources after the bills are paid. The Family Resource Simulator, developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty, illustrates how this happens. This web-based tool calculates resources and expenses for a hypothetical family that the user "creates" by selecting city and state, family characteristics, income sources, and assets. The user also selects which public benefits the family receives when eligible and makes choices about what happens when the family loses benefits (e.g., does the family seek cheaper child care after losing a subsidy?). The result is a series of charts that show the hypothetical family's total income from various sources as earnings rise, as well as the cost of basic family expenses. Using the Simulator, this report describes the experiences of two hypothetical families in the workforce.

2005

About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work, and most have at least one parent working full-time, year-round. Nonetheless, many of these parents are unable to afford basic necessities for their families, such as food, housing, and stable child care. Even a full-time job is not always enough to make ends meet, and many parents cannot get ahead simply by working more. As earnings increase-particularly as they rise above the official poverty level-families begin to lose eligibility for work supports. At the same time, work-related expenses, such as child care and transportation, increase. This means that parents may earn more without a family experiencing more financial security. 1 In some cases, earning more actually leaves a family with fewer resources after the bills are paid. The Family Resource Simulator, developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty, illustrates how this happens. This web-based tool calculates resources and expenses for a hypothetical family that the user "creates" by selecting city and state, family characteristics, income sources, and assets. The user also selects which public benefits the family receives when eligible and makes choices about what happens when the family loses benefits (e.g., does the family seek cheaper child care after losing a subsidy?). The result is a series of charts that show the hypothetical family's total income from various sources as earnings rise, as well as the cost of basic family expenses. Using the Simulator, this report describes the experiences of two hypothetical families in the workforce.

2004

About 85 percent of low-income children have parents who work, and most have at least one parent working full-time, year-round. Nonetheless, many of these parents are unable to afford basic necessities for their families, such as food, housing, and stable child care. Even a full-time job is not always enough to make ends meet, and many parents cannot get ahead simply by working more. As earnings increase-particularly as they rise above the official poverty level-families begin to lose eligibility for work supports. At the same time, work-related expenses, such as child care and transportation, increase. This means that parents may earn more without a family experiencing more financial security. 1 In some cases, earning more actually leaves a family with fewer resources after the bills are paid. The Family Resource Simulator, developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty, illustrates how this happens. This web-based tool calculates resources and expenses for a hypothetical family that the user "creates" by selecting city and state, family characteristics, income sources, and assets. The user also selects which public benefits the family receives when eligible and makes choices about what happens when the family loses benefits (e.g., does the family seek cheaper child care after losing a subsidy?). The result is a series of charts that show the hypothetical family's total income from various sources as earnings rise, as well as the cost of basic family expenses. Using the Simulator, this report describes the experiences of two hypothetical families in the workforce.