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.

This Center on Budget and Policy Priorities brief looks at a new study that paints a more in-depth picture of American debt inequality than studies based on Census data alone. What it finds is that now more than ever, the richest one percent is getting richer, while the lowest-income Americans are making scant progress. From 2003 to 2004, the average incomes of the bottom 99 percent of households grew by less than 3 percent, while the average incomes of the top one percent of households jumped almost 17 percent (after adjusting for inflation).

What’s happening to our ’hoods? Middle-class neighborhoods and housing is shrinking faster than the middle class itself, according to a new Brookings Institution report. City neighborhoods are increasingly segregated with low-income and very low-income families living in concentrated neighborhoods, and high- and very high-income families living together. Middle-income neighborhoods as a proportion of all metropolitan neighborhoods declined from 58 percent in 1970 to 41 percent in 2000. The resulting inability to move into middle-income neighborhoods may limit working families’ access to jobs, decent health care, safe neighborhoods, and adequate political representation, according to the report.

Child poverty dropped dramatically from 1993 to 2000 and rose again from 2000 to 2004, especially among black children, according to a recent Urban Institute report. Why these ups and downs? Work, education, and family structure play a significant role, and economic factors like unemployment and the minimum wage can’t be ignored.

More than ever, workers face dual and dueling responsibilities of work and family caregiving, and low-income families are the hardest hit. Businesses can help reduce this tension by allowing responsive scheduling and paid time off for employees; companies that do so typically benefit from cost savings. This Center for Law and Social policy report says it’s time for the government to take the lead and promote responsive workplaces for workers of all wages, and offers 10 steps to get started.

One reason for the problem above is that while government work supports—like public health care, the earned income tax credit, child care assistance, and food stamps, to name a few—help millions, many families are caught in a Catch-22 of sorts: as their earnings rise, their eligibility for these programs drops. For some families, the net result is no gain, or even a loss, in overall economic security. This National Center for Children in Poverty fact sheet can help policymakers and advocates understand this imbalance.

This one-page Economic Policy Institute snapshot offers a look at child poverty in industrialized nations with similar economies before and after government support; it finds that without government assistance, the United States ranks among the top four countries with the highest rates of child poverty. More troubling is that after government assistance is considered, the United States has higher child poverty rates than other developed nations. That doesn’t mean government support should be tossed out with the bathwater; it means that the most effective programs need to be able to reach more children and families. The chart makes the picture hard to ignore.

Congress recently allocated $750 million over five years to promote marriage and fatherhood initiatives among low-income groups. As a result, federally-funded marriage promotion programs are springing up around the country, including in Washington, DC. Roshin Mathew, an Emerson Hunger Fellow working with Connect for Kids this year, wondered about the connection between marriage promotion and better lives for low-income children. Here are her findings, and her thoughts.

CFK Reports From: Ten Years of Leaving Foster Children Behind
Event: Press Conference
Organized By: Child Welfare League of America
Where/When: Murrow Room, National Press Club; July 17, 2006

An outdated eligibility requirement for foster kids to receive federal assistance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is leaving out nearly 50,000 children per year, according to a report by the Child Welfare League of America.

CFK Reports From: Expanding the Envelope of Anti-Poverty Initiatives
Event: Symposium
Organized By: Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
Where/When: July 18, 2006; The National Press Club
Report By: Kate Carta

This symposium focused on the often overlooked opportunities that public and private leaders have to assist lower income families by bringing down the prices for basic necessities in their everyday lives.