This book marks the first time a human development approach to measuring well-being has
been applied to an industrialized nation. Published by the Social Science Research
Council and Columbia University Press, it ranks states and congressional districts
according to the "American Human Development Index"—which goes beyond economic
output to include three aspects of well-being: health and longevity, access to
knowledge (educational attainment and enrollment), and standards of living (median
earnings). Hard copy: $16.47 or access findings for free on the Web site.

Take The Measure of America Quiz - How sensitive are you to the factors that shape the
quality of life for average Americans? Find out online, and then learn about the Social
Science Research Council and Columbia University report on the American Human
Development Index, The Measure of America.

Mayor Bloomberg has a new plan and it's the first time any local government has put in
place an alternative to the country's 40-year- old standard for measuring poverty, the
National Academies reports.

A simplified version of the USDA Summer Food Service Program has just gone national. It lessens the paperwork involved for groups or out-of-school time programs that want to incorporate summer meals.

More than 17 million children and their families receive child support (2007 data). The Center for Law and Social Policy has research, policy recommendations and other publications focusing on child support and families.

This policy brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy explains how sound child support policies can help incarcerated and re-entering fathers find and keep good jobs, reduce recidivism, and provide steady support to their children over time. (PDF)

To give context to the 2008 Census data on poverty, this chart from the Economic Policy Institute illustrates that millions more people face poverty than the federal measurement finds.

The USDA "Summer Food Service Program Map Machine" finds summer food program sites by zip code or other locators, detailing the characteristics of the local neighborhood and schools.

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a recent Aspen Institute report looks at the impact of job training programs on low-skilled and low-income workers – but this time, it’s from their own perspectives. The report captures participants’ sense of how programs affected their families, community interactions, and self-esteem, and what challenges to success and stability remain. Among the continued struggles were finding affordable child care, medical care, and transportation and balancing the demands of work and family life, typically with little job flexibility or leave.

The 1996 welfare reform bill was designed to move public assistance participants from welfare to work, often quickly and without adequate supports to help families truly rise out of poverty. This policy brief from the National Assembly's Family Strengthening Policy Center looks at "work-plus" strategies (as opposed to work-first approaches) that offer work supports like child care assistance, transportation help, tax assistance, etc. in addition to employment services. The brief includes recommendations for policymakers, businesses, and community organizations.

How does welfare work? The answer often depends on the state — states vary, for example, in the amount of hours participating parents must work, what counts as “work,” rules about emergency cash assistance, and other areas. And the recent legislation reauthorizing welfare and setting stricter work requirements is likely to have diverse effects in different states. This very readable new Urban Institute brief summarizes state programs and their differences.