From The Upshot, Mikayla Bouchard on how transportation emerges as crucial to escaping poverty. Alana Semuels on how poor single moms survive: Welfare reform has driven many low-income parents to depend more heavily on family and friends for food, childcare, and cash. Emily Badger on what happens when a family runs out of food stamps. Poverty’s role in intellectual development: New research finds that a disadvantaged environment can prevent genetics from doing its job. Why are liberals obsessed with using contraception to fight poverty? Only in America: Four years into life, poor kids are already an entire year behind. The Nordic poor are much better off than the US poor. Dylan Matthews on how Denmark, Finland, and Sweden are proof that poverty in the US doesn’t have to be this high. America should treat all poor people as well as it treats poor veterans. Hamilton Nolan on how government redistribution of wealth works great. Mark Thoma on economic growth vs. social insurance: Why can’t we have both?
Irwin Garfinkel (Columbia) and Timothy M. Smeeding (Wisconsin): Welfare State Myths and Measurement (and comments). Teresa Ghilarducci on the welfare state, a terrible name for an essential system: All developed countries are welfare states — and there are good reasons for that. Jeff Spross on how America’s social safety net is way too skimpy — and horribly designed. Poverty is such a longstanding, deeply-rooted problem that it’s hard to believe there could be a relatively straightforward way to address it, but here’s one: Give poor people money (and more). Want to fight poverty? Expand welfare — always expand welfare. Economists tested 7 welfare programs to see if they made people lazy — they didn’t. Eduardo Porter on the myth of welfare’s corrupting influence on the poor. Elliot Berkman on how poor people don’t have less self-control — poverty forces them to think short-term. Ryan Cooper on the grotesque moral atrocity of blaming the poor for being poor. Jeff Spross on the bogus, self-serving notion that poverty is complicated.
From Demos, Matt Bruenig on official, supplemental, and relative poverty in 2014; on how vulnerable populations made up 80% of the poor; on arguments about capitalism and poverty; on incoherent justifications for depriving the poor; and three responses to a Brookings/AEI poverty report. Kenneth P. Vogel on the Kochs’ war on poverty: Free turkeys, holiday parties, classes in “dinner on a dime”, with a side dish of conservative proselytizing. Who turned my blue state red? Alec MacGillis on why poor areas vote for politicians who want to slash the safety net. Jared Bernstein on how you can’t fix poverty by breaking the safety net. Christopher Faricy on 5 things you should know about the Republican welfare state. Eduardo Porter on the Republican Party’s strategy to ignore poverty: Fixed block grants have become a central part of the Republican strategy to confront America’s poverty, but states have powerful incentives to use the money elsewhere (and more). The GOP is the reverse Robin Hood party: Josh Mound goes inside their long war against the “lucky ducky” poor. Bryce Cover on how we all get “free stuff” from the government.
