Affordable cars are key to getting off public aid, study finds, By Ken Bensinger, March 14, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Access to affordable cars proved a crucial leg-up for working families, even during the depths of the worst recession in decades, a new study has found. The survey of 445 recipients of loans offered from 2007 to 2010 by the nation’s largest low-income car ownership program, Ways to Work, found that 82% were able to get off welfare and other public aid as a result. That led to an estimated savings to taxpayers of $18.2 million a year, more than double the amount donated to the group. Participants reported increased incomes, wages, educational levels and access to traditional financial services, such as bank accounts…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty