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

Month: January 2021

January 29, 2021

The January 29, 2021 edition of the Poverty Dispatch was our last. To keep up on news and research about poverty, please sign up for IRP’s email lists here and follow us on Twitter at @IRP_UW

 

Executive actions also reverse antiabortion policies of the Trump administration and are intended to remove barriers to Medicaid.

 

By targeting Americans that have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and also addressing lasting inequities, the new Administration is approaching this moment as one of great potential as well as great peril.

 

President Biden signed an order this week to extend the federal moratorium on most evictions through March.

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s top two legislative leaders pledged Monday to pay off 80% of most people’s unpaid rent that has piled up during the…

 

African Americans disproportionately comprise the number of essential workers in frontline industries such as grocery stores, restaurants and warehouses, which has compelled some fathers to stay away from their children to avoid the risk of spreading the virus.

 

12 million Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will see an increase under President Joe Biden’s executive order.

 

The government wants Americans to buy groceries online when possible to avoid COVID-19. But many people receiving food stamps can’t shop on the web.

 

For most of us, the prospect of $600 (or perhaps even $2,000) appearing in our bank account is a welcome gift. However, if our loved one is on Medicaid it can fill us with concern. How can this money

 

January 15, 2021

Some jobless workers have been excluded from unemployment benefits.

 

When a person lives in a constant state of need, it’s often difficult to decide which hole to fill, or which fire to put out.

 

One in two Americans who received the first stimulus check say they’re counting on the second round of payments for financial stability, according to a new survey.

 

Jennifer Davis lost her job as director of catering and special events at a small restaurant chain within 15 minutes of Maryland shuttering bars and eateries in mid-March.

 

Out-of-work Americans are eligible for extra unemployment benefits, but many are confused by the process around collecting the money.

 

Jobless Americans in many states are starting to see heftier unemployment checks, thanks to the $900 billion relief package Congress approved in late December.

 

The think tank’s analysts say the groups that would be most affected by homelessness are those working low-wage and part-time jobs, many of them living on poverty-level wages and working jobs…

 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ordered officials to issue one-time $400 payments to workers who didn’t get Lost Wages Assistance. Other residents will get $1,000.

 

The federal government has yet to approve plans in most states for giving out money that was authorized in October.

January 8, 2021

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 140,000 in December, the Labor Department said, against the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 50,000 gain.

 

President Trump signed a Covid relief bill, giving extra jobless benefits to millions of workers. Aid may not come for weeks and the total amount may be lower.

 

Come Friday, many low-wage workers across the US are getting a pay bump.

 

Whether the Biden administration will get the chance to raise the federal minimum wage will likely come down to runoff election in Georgia on Tuesday.

 

When schools closed because of COVID-19, teachers delivered free food to students at their homes. Many saw poverty firsthand for the first time.

 

Millions of Americans expect to lose wages in the next four weeks.