Power Marketplace’s public service journalism 💙 Give Now

A plan for alleviating poverty and climate change

The two challenges are interrelated, and a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute says they must be addressed in tandem.
It'll take investment equal to about 8% of global GDP annually to close both the economic empowerment gap and the net-zero transition gap, according to the McKinsey Global Institute,
China Photos/Getty Images

Census: Income fell, poverty increased in 2022

Sep 12, 2023
The expiration of pandemic-era government benefits is partially responsible for the increases in poverty.
Above, a food pantry, in Queens, New York. With pandemic-era benefits ending, post-tax real incomes fell 14% for the lowest earners in the U.S. in 2022.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Yes, you can be employed and homeless

Jun 1, 2023
Fast-food workers, who are often paid low wages and work limited hours, make up 11% of homeless workers in California, a study finds.
An Economic Roundtable study looks at the fast-food industry in California, which has the "highest rate of poverty employment" in the state, according to author Daniel Flaming.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Child poverty fell by nearly half in 2021, Census Bureau says

Sep 13, 2022
The supplemental poverty rate fell to its lowest since 2009. Children living in poverty fell by almost half.
A volunteer hands out lettuce at a food pantry in December 2021. Last year, the supplemental poverty rate fell to 7.8%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

When governments fail to address community issues, who steps in?

Jul 6, 2022
In an excerpt from "The Fight to Save the Town," the author describes how residents get by in an Oregon county with a declining government.
A person in Detroit walks past the remains of the Packard Motor Car Co., which ceased production in the late 1950s.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Pandemic-driven poverty in New York City persists amid recovery, report finds

The report from Robin Hood and Columbia University sheds light on the enduring economic hardship faced by many New Yorkers.
New data from Robin Hood and Columbia University paint a picture of poverty in New York City amid multiple crises.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for Action/2015

Did the enhanced child tax credit really reduce household poverty?

Early studies find that the enhanced credit reduced childhood poverty and food insufficiency.
"The expanded child tax credit did not have a negative short-term employment effect that offset its documented reductions in poverty and hardship," said Chris Farrell, Marketplace senior economics contributor.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ParentsTogether

For public good, not for profit.

Government support credited with decline in poverty in 2020

Sep 14, 2021
The Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure showed a big decline from 2019, despite a year of pandemic-induced economic disruption.
Pandemic relief helped more Americans stay out of poverty in 2020, but future poverty rates depend on what happens with the pandemic economy.
Alex Wong via Getty Images

The expanded child tax credit could "cut poverty in half"

Jun 28, 2021
Starting July 15, most parents will get monthly payments for half of the tax credit instead of a lump sum at tax time.
More parents will be eligible for the child tax credit this year. Above, a mother and daughter stand outside of a community food pantry in New York.
Spencer Platt via Getty

China's slow trains for the poor

Apr 20, 2021
There are 81 no-frills train routes left over from the Mao era to service far-flung areas. Who rides them?
A villager boards a slow train with a television strapped to his back in 2015. The train connected communities in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces that were not frequently served by China's modernized rail network.
Qian Haifeng

This is NOT a paywall. 

Marketplace is community-funded public service journalism. Give in any amount that works for you – what matters is that you give today.