Occupy the Safety Net Occupy the Safety Net
Republicans in Congress are quietly killing the provisions of Obama’s stimulus act that have kept millions out of poverty.
Dec 15, 2011 / Feature / Betsy Reed
Food Stamps: The Safety Net That Deserves Its Name Food Stamps: The Safety Net That Deserves Its Name
For all its flaws, the food stamp program helps one in seven Americans put food on the table.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Lizzy Ratner
Unemployment Insurance Under the Knife Unemployment Insurance Under the Knife
With 5.7 million Americans out of work six months or more, benefits for the unemployed are woefully inadequate—and even so, the GOP would cut them.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Kate Kahan and George Wentworth
The Making of the 99% The Making of the 99%
With the Occupy movement, what started as a diffuse protest against economic injustice became a vast experiment in class building.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich
The End of Welfare as I Knew It The End of Welfare as I Knew It
“When Clinton signed Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, I knew single mothers like me would suffer. Fifteen years later, millions have been kicked off the welfare rolls....
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Diana Spatz
Tearing the School Safety Net Tearing the School Safety Net
Hit by the double whammy of poverty and austerity, a West Oakland school that once served children well is struggling.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Pedro Noguera
The Unfathomable Cuts in Housing Aid The Unfathomable Cuts in Housing Aid
Ignoring the signs of dire need, the government is slashing its housing budget.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Patrick Markee
Medicaid in Crisis Medicaid in Crisis
The insurance program is facing its toughest challenges just as the health reform law is poised to expand eligibility for millions of Americans.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Sasha Abramsky
Hard Knocks in the Bronx Hard Knocks in the Bronx
Meet Ginnina Slowe, resident of the nation’s poorest urban county, where poverty is expensive—especially when you try to get out of it.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Kai Wright
A Proud, Angry Poor A Proud, Angry Poor
What the Occupy movement could do for poor people—and vice versa.
Dec 14, 2011 / Feature / Frances Fox Piven