Percent of Colorado kids in poverty down for first time since 2008, By Tom McGhee and Yesenia Robles, March 23, 2015, Denver Post: “For the first time since 2008, the percentage of Colorado children living in poverty decreased, but the recovery has been spotty, with minority kids and those in rural areas still facing the highest rates of child poverty, according to a new report. ‘This is great news for Colorado,’ Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia said Monday at the unveiling of the annual Colorado Kids Count report. ‘But we know there are far too many children growing up in households where they don’t have the resources they need.’ The report measured poverty — defined as those living in households with income levels at, or below, $23,550 for a family of four — among children in 2013, the last year that statistics were available. It found that 17 percent of the state’s 1.2 million children lived in poverty…”
Day: March 24, 2015
Tax Refund Anticipation Checks
More cash-strapped Americans turn to tax refund advances, By Hope Yen (AP), March 22, 2015, ABC News: “Cash-strapped Americans anxious for tax refunds are increasingly turning to payment advances, prepaid cards or other costly services when getting tax preparation help, according to new federal data raising concerns among regulators about whether consumers are fully informed about the fees. Regulators are looking to increase oversight of preparers amid the rise in ‘refund anticipation checks,’ a type of cash advance especially popular among low-income families who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit, the government’s $65 billion cash benefit program. The advances are being marketed as a way to get fast refunds or defer payment of tax preparation costs…”