Today the U.S. Census Bureau published its annual release of national-level statistics on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. As we wrote in our previous blog post, these statistics are based on the Current Population Survey, which is useful...
It’s been more than a decade since the Great Recession officially ended, and unemployment rates across the nation have reached historic lows. That’s also true in Arkansas, where the unemployment rate averaged 3.8 percent in 2018 based on an...
“Opportunity Zones,” But For Whom? Part of the 2017 federal tax cut bill, the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act,” created a new tax break meant to encourage investment in low-income areas. These “opportunity zones” allow for favorable capital gains...
Growing evidence shows that minimum wage increases help to increase take-home pay and reduce poverty without reducing employment. That’s why Arkansans overwhelmingly voted to raise the minimum wage in 2018. As we wrote last week, the CBO confirmed the...
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report analyzing the economic impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 in 2025. They find that a federal $15 minimum wage would boost worker pay, increase the income of...
In May, the federal government asked for comments on changing how it calculates the poverty line (read our previous blog post on this topic). The federal poverty line represents the smallest amount of money that a family will need...
Note: This blog is first in a series of posts covering the findings in the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS COUNT® Data Book. Read our press release about the Data Book here. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS...
There are efforts taking place in Washington that would change the way the federal poverty level is calculated, and the result would be to reduce or take away necessary assistance (food, health care, etc.) from millions of people living...
After each legislative session, Arkansas Advocates looks back and identifies legislators who stood out as champions for kids. And while there were many legislators who fought to improve the lives of children and families in Arkansas, the ones we...
Today, April 15th, is tax day. As a society, we rely on taxes to maintain infrastructure and services we largely take for granted: public education, the roads and bridges we drive on, the water we drink, the health inspectors...
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