Tax Day Round-Up
As we all know, today marks one of the clearest-cut deadlines of the year: Our Federal income taxes are due. (And, if you didn’t know, you’ve got until midnight.) Yes, the IRS does grant extensions, making it more generous than…
economic well-being
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The Farm Bill’s odd couple: SNAP and agriculture
In January, I spent some time discussing SNAP in Virginia here and here; at the time, there was a lot of hypothesizing about what kinds of changes were in store for the program.In early February, the Farm Bill was passed…
Official Poverty Estimates, in the US and the Commonwealth
This past weekend, The New York Times published an interactive map visualizing recently released Census data on poverty in America. The NYT map gives information down to the census tract level; this level of precision allows the viewer to see…
Breadwinner Moms in Virginia: A closer look at unmarried mothers
As mentioned in a previous post, much of the research and conversation about “breadwinning” mothers simplistically distinguishes between only two groups: married and unmarried mothers. But there is a third group that is often not considered—women who are unmarried, but…
“Breadwinner” Moms in Virginia
“A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family.” – Executive Summary, “Breadwinner Moms”“Breadwinner Moms,” a recently released report from Pew…
Regional Cost of Living Adjustments for Poverty Rates in Virginia
Common sense tells us that the cost of goods and services are different in different parts of the country. For instance, the economic reality and expenditures of families living in Northern Virginia are not the same as those living in…
Why Virginia Needs a New Poverty Measure
How many of us are poor?Answering that question is not as easy as one may think. Yes, we do have an official poverty statistic that is produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, but nobody likes it. Many on the Left think it…
Food Stamp Participation by State, 1990-2013
The sluggish economic recovery and changes to participation guidelines have led to a steady increase in the number of individuals relying on food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In January 2013, 47.3 million Americans, or 15% of the…
Do improvements in consumption equal improvements in economic well-being?
The image of poor individuals living large on government handouts is a powerful one that implicitly characterizes the poor as undeserving of assistance. The narrative of the Cadillac-driving “welfare queen” is perhaps the most well-known trope, but more recent articles…
A trend is your friend: the latest unemployment and poverty numbers
In this presidential election year, the public seems particularly focused on the monthly unemployment statistics gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). By now I am sure we all know how it works:If the numbers are bad:The Republicans tout the…