poverty

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New Parents in Baltimore Could Get a $1K 'Baby Bonus'

Proposal is up for a vote in November

(Newser) - New parents in Baltimore could receive a $1,000 "baby bonus" if voters approve a proposal that aims to help reduce childhood poverty from birth with a modest one-time cash payment, the AP reports. A group of Baltimore teachers is behind the effort. Organizers recently secured the necessary 10,...

Nestle Allegedly Pumps Sugar Into Baby Products in Poor Nations

The food giant is being accused of a 'harmful double standard' that could lead to obesity

(Newser) - The Nestle brand may be associated with comfort food and drink, but its infant eats are getting an uncomfortable amount of scrutiny over sugar content. Per a new report from the nonprofit Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network, the Swiss food conglomerate adds more sugar to its...

In Flint, Michigan, an Ambitious Program for New Moms

City where 70% of children live in poverty will pay out $7.5K to women with newborns

(Newser) - A $500 payment each month might not sound like a lot. But for Hailey Toporek, it's life-changing. The 19-year-old learned she was pregnant just 10 days before delivering a baby boy. Two days after giving birth, she arrived at pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha's office for a checkup and learned...

Here Are the Neediest US Cities
This Is the Neediest
City in America

This Is the Neediest City in America

Detroit could use some help combatting poverty, unemployment, per WalletHub

(Newser) - It's the time of year when we're thankful for the abundance in our lives—and, hopefully, we try to think of others who aren't so fortunate. WalletHub looked at more than 180 US cities to see which ones suffer most from economic disarray, including through homelessness, food...

Can $500 a Month for a Year Change a Life?
What Happened When Chicago
Gave Her $500 a Month
longform

What Happened When Chicago Gave Her $500 a Month

A look at how one woman's life was impacted by the yearlong Resilient Communities Pilot

(Newser) - You hear about them every so often: pilot programs that give a select group of people a guaranteed income for a specific amount of time in a quest to see if such an approach can make a difference in the fight against poverty. In a deep dive for Chicago Magazine ...

At This Rate, Child Marriage Will Continue for Centuries: UN

Progress is being made, but not fast enough, according to new report

(Newser) - The world isn't moving fast enough to combat child marriage as, at current rates, it will be another 300 years before the practice is eliminated. That's according to a UN report , which finds 12 million girls are married as minors each year. The report does highlight progress made...

One American Constant for Decades: Poverty
The Cause of American
Poverty: 'Exploitation'
longform

The Cause of American Poverty: 'Exploitation'

Matthew Desmond in 'New York Times Magazine' looks at how the poor are systemically taken advantage of

(Newser) - Back in 1970, roughly 12.6% of the US population lived in poverty. In the 50 years since, the figure has remained remarkably constant—to graph it "amounts to drawing a line that resembles gently rolling hills," writes Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond in the New York Times Magazine ...

Her Kids Had No Food. Her Request for Help Snowballed

An uplifting story out of India

(Newser) - A woman's moment of desperation turned into her moment of good fortune. The BBC reports on the overflow of financial support an Indian widow has experienced this month. The 46-year-old, identified as Subhadra, lost her husband in August. She has three sons, the youngest of which has cerebral palsy,...

During the Pandemic, Child Poverty Rate Plummeted

More than 5M people emerged from poverty thanks to enhanced child tax credit

(Newser) - In 1993, the US child poverty rate came in at almost 28%, but last year, it fell to just 5.2%—a "stunning stat" that equates to a more than 80% drop over those three decades, per Axios . According to Census Bureau data released Tuesday, the 2021 figure also...

Relief Payments Result in 'Surprising' Poverty Decline

Official poverty rate rises, but 'supplemental' measure declines

(Newser) - The share of Americans living in poverty rose slightly as the COVID-19 pandemic shook the economy last year, but massive relief payments pumped out by Congress eased hardship for many, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
  • Official number: The official poverty measure showed an increase of 1 percentage point in 2020,
...

Parents, Check Your Accounts This Week

First of 6 monthly installments for enhanced child tax credit are due out Thursday

(Newser) - If you have kids and fit the eligibility requirements, you could see your first monthly payment from the US Treasury this week. The first installment to 39 million families, comprising 65 million kids, are set to be disseminated on Thursday, either via direct deposit or check. Most families will automatically...

Starting July 15, a Boost to Most Parents' Bank Accounts

Expanded tax credit under American Rescue Plan will deliver up to $300 per month per child

(Newser) - Welcome news for parents of the majority of America's kids: Your bank account is about to get a monthly boost. As part of the expanded tax credit under the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, households including 88% of the nation's children will start seeing monthly payments on...

Study: Millions Fell Into Poverty as Federal Relief Ran Out

Columbia researchers say number of US poor has grown by 8M since May

(Newser) - The world's poor have been hit the hardest by the pandemic—and in the US, that group includes 6 million to 8 million more people than it did a few months ago, according to two studies released this week. Columbia University researchers found that the number of poor people...

This Man Is About to Get Even Poorer
This Man Is About
to Get Even Poorer
new study

This Man Is About to Get Even Poorer

King's College London warns the world of coming crisis

(Newser) - Global poverty is set to rise above 1 billion people once again as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which is reducing the income of the world's poorest by $500 million a day, according to new research published Friday. The research by King's College London and the Australian...

Leila Janah Dies; Companies Hired Thousands of the Poor

Entrepreneur tapped world's 'biggest untapped resource'

(Newser) - "Let’s build an export industry but only for poor women," Leila Janah said on a trip to West Africa, after seeing people growing nuts that can be used in skin-care products. "We can solve poverty while also making our skin better." That led to projects...

Kelly Ripa on the Defense After Referring to Son's Poverty

'We work and we expect our kids to as well,' says millionaire

(Newser) - Kelly Ripa is fending off attacks that she's "out of touch" after joking that her son is living in "extreme poverty." The talk show host appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday where she discussed how her eldest son, Michael, a New York University student, is faring...

Nobel Goes to Economists Studying Roots of Poverty

Esther Duflo is second-ever female winner

(Newser) - Three researchers with an "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty" have won this year's Nobel in economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says. The prize was won by French-American researcher Esther Duflo, her fellow MIT researcher Abhijit Banerjee, and Michael Kremer at Harvard, the New York Times...

Rich People See Homeless Couple Move In Next Door

And they're a little surprised

(Newser) - A couple that spent nearly 10 years living on the streets is now residing in a wealthy neighborhood—and some residents are a little unnerved, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It all began when Terrence McGrath, a Bay Area real estate developer, read a column about Greg Dunston and Marie...

The 10 US Cities Where Poverty Hits Hard

Texas claims 4 of them

(Newser) - Last year, 13.4% of all Americans lived below the poverty line—a 0.6-percentage point drop from 2016. But many pockets in the US still struggle, and 24/7 Wall St. mined data from the US Census Bureau to see which metropolitan areas are dealing with the highest poverty rates....

Students In This Country Get Tampons for Free

'After all periods are not exempt from poverty,' official says

(Newser) - Good news for female students in Scotland: All your pads and tampons will now be free, the Guardian reports. The Scottish government has allocated $6.7 million to pay for the sanitary products of some 395,000 school, college, and university students—an effort to banish what's called "...

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