New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for giving “voice to the voiceless” on international social justice issues, wrote an op-ed in yesterday’s Times (10/30/16) arguing for increased government action on poverty. His … Continue reading
NEW ORLEANS — Deandrea Frank had long dreamed of becoming a nurse. Even when she was living in a local homeless shelter after Hurricane Katrina, it was a promise that she repeated to herself.In late September, the single mom of … Continue reading
Rep. Paul Ryan R.-Wisc. has made a career of proposing to “reform” US poverty programs mainly by trying to eliminate them: calling for “savings” in spending on the poor ThinkProgress, 5/8/12, declaring that “top-down anti-poverty programs” have failed and should … Continue reading
Bianca Rodriguez, a Philadelphia school reading specialist, was 22 years old when the seizures started. A year later, after she developed more mysterious symptoms, including swollen joints and an outbreak of hives, Rodriguez finally received a diagnosis: adult-onset Still’s disease, … Continue reading
When House Republicans voted last night to remove food stamps from the Congressional farm bill, they took the first step toward ending a 40-year-long compromise tying food aid to the poor (liked by big-city liberals) to farm subsidies (liked by … Continue reading
It was a story that, if true, was certainly alarming: New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (12/9/12) reported that poor families in Appalachian Kentucky were pulling their kids out of literacy classes. The reason: They feared that if their kids … Continue reading
When the economy crashed in 2008, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Applications for food stamps soared. So did attendance at emergency food providers—soup kitchens and food pantries—that help the estimated 50 million people, working and non-working, who can’t afford … Continue reading
As if being poor in New York City weren’t enough of an indignity — affordable apartments are nearly impossible to find, your kids go to schools with no classroom supplies because the parent associations can’t afford to foot the bill, … Continue reading
Remember last Friday’s New York Times front-page story on how poverty rates aren’t as bad as we’d feared? Today the Census released the figures behind that piece, and it turns out even where the Times was right, it still missed … Continue reading
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has long insisted on reserving the right to require childless food stamp applicants to work for their benefits — even turning down the offer of a federal hardship waiver that 46 states have been … Continue reading