At the start of this academic year we are excited to announce new
research by our affiliates, a top-notch set of speakers in the
coming months, and a new series, Poverty Facts, detailing
critical facts about poverty and related policies. Please
read the latest below and visit our website for more information.
Poverty Facts is a new series that provides key background
information for understanding research and policies affecting
poverty. We aim to promote informed discussion and debate on the
challenges of addressing poverty and inequality in the United
States. Poverty Facts is authored by faculty and graduate student
affiliates of the Center.
Incarceration in the United States has a serious impact on families and on children. Incarcerated adults have children at nearly the same rates as the non-incarcerated population, and children living in families with an incarcerated parent are more likely to experience certain hardships.
Unstable work schedules include work hours that are variable, meaning the number of hours worked week to week fluctuates, and unpredictable, meaning workers receive little notice of when they will work. Such schedules are common in the United States and lead to earnings volatility, unpredictable incomes, and challenges in work-family management. For low-income workers, these problems may be magnified as almost 43 percent of workers making under $15,000 experience high work-hour instability and 57 percent report high schedule unpredictability.
Among OECD countries, the United States has fallen from 1st (in 1990) to 9th (in 2016) in terms of the percentage of working age individuals with a bachelor’s degree.This makes interventions that promote college attendance in the U.S. a top policy priority. The benefits of a college education are widely known.
