Feb 07 Watch 9:57 The bipartisan idea that gives a tax boost to childless workers By Sam Weber, Laura Fong A group of low-income workers in New York City are getting a larger tax refund this year. It’s part of an experiment to see what would happen if the lawmakers expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, a four-decade-old program with… Continue watching
Jan 17 What do the GOP candidates have to say on poverty in America? By Lauren Feeney For more perspective on the GOP candidates’ ideas and proposals for taking on poverty, NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan spoke to conservative commentator Reihan Salam, executive editor of National Review… Continue reading
Jan 10 Watch 11:14 Country’s oldest voluntary school desegregation program grows in Rochester, New York By PBS News Hour The Urban-Suburban program in Rochester, New York, has given minority children the opportunity to attend schools in the suburbs that have a far larger population of white students. The program is growing, but questions still remain remain about whether the… Continue watching
Jan 06 Watch 8:26 Fighting the debt trap of triple-digit interest rate payday loans By PBS News Hour Payday loans are supposed to be a short-term quick fix for those who can't get traditional credit. But the loans are rarely actually short-term, and borrowers frequently need to take out a second loan to pay off the first. Special… Continue watching
Jan 06 Watch 3:34 Left behind by banks, poor Americans pay more to borrow By PBS News Hour It’s expensive to be poor. Unable to maintain a minimum balance or provide the necessary ID to open a bank account, many low-income Americans rely on fringe financial services like check cashing stores and payday lenders, which charge interest rates… Continue watching
Jan 06 Why the poor face a higher cost of banking By Lauren Feeney It’s expensive to be poor. The poor pay more for food, car insurance, even diapers. But perhaps the widest discrepancy is in the world of banking. Unable to maintain a minimum balance or provide the necessary ID… Continue reading
Jan 02 Watch 10:41 Bad bargain? Manufactured-home owners feel the financial strain By PBS News Hour Twenty million Americans live in mobile, or manufactured, homes that offer affordable housing, particularly in rural parts of the country. Typically older and poorer than traditional homeowners, manufactured homeowners often face serious, unique financial difficulties that make it a bad… Continue watching
Dec 27 Living on $2 a day: Exploring extreme poverty in America By Lauren Feeney In their new book, "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America," academics Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer reveal that there are nearly 1.5 million American households with practically no cash income. Continue reading
Dec 13 Watch 10:45 Debate over how to treat the homeless simmers in Sarasota, as more cities crack down By PBS News Hour Like many cities with temperate climates, Sarasota, Florida, is struggling with a growing homeless population. A lawsuit against the city argues that the issuance of citations for sleeping outside while there's a lack of resources available has criminalized homelessness. Meanwhile… Continue watching
Dec 13 Interactive map: Number of U.S. cities criminalizing homelessness surges By Andrew Mach Across the country, advocates say the number of cities with municipal bans on camping or sleeping outside has increased 50 percent since 2011. Here is an interactive map showing which cities have implemented the bans. Continue reading