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.

The National Center for Children in Poverty has a 2008 fact sheet that outlines how the federal poverty measurement works, why it is inadequate and examines alternative ways to measure poverty—and child poverty—more effectively.

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.

To be poor "is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child's brain," Paul Krugman wrote in a 2008 New York Times op-ed. Here, Hershel Sarbin wrestles with the often-daunting task of communicating about child poverty—and why a renewed, solutions-based focus on child poverty may be around the corner.

I was somewhat surprised when I recently came across the following paragraph on the Voices for America’s Children Website: “As a society we pay a steep price for allowing one in five of our nation’s children to live in poverty. Economists estimate the annual national cost of persistent childhood poverty due to lost adult productivity and wages, increased crime, and higher health expenditures is massive: approximately $500 billion or four percent of the nation’s gross domestic product”...

For the first time in 10 years, the federal minimum wage will get a boost—from $5.15 to $7.25 in 2009. It’s not enough to end poverty in America, but it is a start. Just ask Julie Smith, who took a job as cashier after dropping out of college to raise her daughter. The increase is also expected to benefit an estimated 6.4 million children whose parents earn minimum wage, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In an article for OneWorld, Caitlin Johnson reports.

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.