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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Month: October 2020

October 30, 2020

Federal programs enacted by the CARES Act coronavirus relief law to help unemployed workers are ending after Dec. 31. Lapsing benefits will directly impact millions of people.

 

Latinos were denied fair pay, leaving them vulnerable to COVID-19. In this six-part series, USA TODAY investigates how racism killed people of color.

 

After fires and the coronavirus cut wages for many Central Valley farmworkers, a winter slowdown means families are unable to pay for necessities.

 

Lower-income states that expanded Medicaid may be receiving a bigger piece of the federal pie.

 

The city of Compton is launching a pilot program that will guarantee free, recurring cash payments to 800 of its low-income residents — with no strings attached.

 

Evictions in Arkansas can snowball from criminal charges to arrests to jail time because of a 119-year-old law that mostly impacts female, Black and low-income renters. Even prosecutors have called it unconstitutional.

 

One tenant said she told her landlord, “There’s got to be something for people affected by Covid,” and the landlord responded, “There’s nothing we can do.”

 

The pandemic has worsened longstanding conditions that have widened inequality, hindering Xi Jinping’s vow to “leave no one behind.”

 

October 23, 2020

Missourians mobilized by the thousands to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot this year, a move that will impact 230,000 low-income residents in the “coverage gap.”

 

A federal judge Sunday struck down a Trump administration rule that could have stripped food stamps from nearly 700,000 people, saying the US Department of Agriculture has been “icily silent” about how many Americans would have been denied benefits had the changes been in effect during the pandemic.

 

Social supports are scarce for 269,000 homeless students in California, UCLA report finds.

 

Researchers looked at the devastating financial effect the pandemic has had on Americans, with Blacks, Latinos and children faring the worst.

 

Faced with a deluge of fraudulent unemployment claims, California officials said Thursday that 350,000 of the debit cards they issued containing benefits have been frozen because of suspicious activity.

 

As the coronavirus pandemic continues into its eighth month, a growing number of Americans are exhausting their state unemployment benefits and shifting to extended payments funded by the federal government.

 

With temporary layoffs turning permanent and career paths derailed, economists say a new coronavirus wave could derail the recovery.

 

Many jobless workers are learning their benefits are expiring even as the job market remains tough.

 

We teamed up with local news organizations across the country to document the lives of a dozen Americans who found themselves out of work in the pandemic.

 

October 16, 2020

Two new studies show the effect of the emergency $2 trillion package known as the Cares Act and what happened when the money ran out.

 

“It is a big deal for states and businesses.”

 

If so many people are out of work and on the edge of eviction or foreclosure, how come we’re not seeing more evidence of economic disaster? Why hasn’t it…

 

Millions have applied for unemployment benefits, but many low-wage workers who needed the most help this spring couldn’t get it, report says.

 

Efforts to prevent fraud in state unemployment systems are outdated, hurting millions of people with legitimate claims by causing lengthy and unnecessary delays while not managing to catch much fraud.

 

At a time when America labor has been redefined and essential employees are celebrated as everyday heroes, Florida voters in November will decide whether the value of work should change, too.

 

Court-ordered fines and fees are a big business in Colorado, generating $132.8 million in 2019 alone, according to a new state report. Fines and fees resulting from court cases disproportionately a…

 

Studies show that food insecurity has doubled overall and tripled among families with children due to the pandemic.

 

Some low-income students have dropped out, and there are growing concerns about hunger and homelessness.

 

The crisis’s economic damage has been especially devastating to some of the world’s poorest nations.