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

Diaper banks have been struggling to keep up with demand

Mar 30, 2021
Diaper banks provide free diapers and often other infant supplies to parents who need them. This year, they're busier than ever.
Kids use anywhere from five to 12 diapers a day (or more) for the first three years of their lives. That’s an expense of at least $80 a month. And that doesn’t include wipes.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

States where it's harder to get unemployment benefits may see higher rates of poverty

Jan 28, 2021
A new study finds that in the least generous states, more families have fallen below the poverty line during the pandemic.
For most Americans getting jobless benefits, the money’s about to run out when all federal pandemic unemployment programs expire on Sept. 5.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Majority of Americans believe economy is rigged

Oct 16, 2020
More than 80% of Black Americans and nearly 70% of women say the economy is rigged in favor of certain groups. Experts say they're right.
Protesters in Los Angeles in May 2020.
Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

The pandemic threatens to push more people in Mexico into poverty

Oct 1, 2020
And Mexico doesn't pay unemployment insurance.
One economic researcher says almost 1 in 5 people in the Mexican labor force have lost their jobs. Pictured: Andres Tolentino Hernandez, who lost his job at a printing workshop when the virus hit.
Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

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Unemployment benefits are all over the map

Aug 27, 2020
So we created an interactive map of unemployment benefits and average rent across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
A sign at a gas station tells customers it is closed. Unemployment has reached alarming levels in the United States.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on rebuilding trust between the city and its people

Lightfoot wants to "unwind" Chicago's "addiction to fines and fees" so as to not drive people into bankruptcy and out of the economy.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

How to help the poor amid COVID-19? Give them money, says Nobel laureate Esther Duflo

Apr 9, 2020
If a segment of the population stops buying things, it could lead to a much larger economic crisis, Duflo warned.
Nobel laureate Esther Duflo points to direct cash transfers in coronavirus response.
Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images