Low Income Families

Helping At-Risk Children Succeed in School: There's No Such Thing as Too Early

Anna M. Babin | Posted 05.24.2012

Anna M. Babin

How do we help children from lower-income families achieve their full potential in school and life? One fact is sure: Start early.

Closing the Gap Between College Aspiration and Success

Gaston Caperton | Posted 05.10.2012

Gaston Caperton

College is more accessible than many families might think. They often overestimate the cost of college and underestimate the amount of financial aid that they are eligible to receive.

When Helping Doesn't Help

Maurice Lim Miller | Posted 05.07.2012

Maurice Lim Miller

The question really isn't whether to help the poor or not, it is how can we help the poor in the same way that we help the middle and upper class -- without requiring that they relinquish self-determination or define themselves by their deficits.

Paving the Way to Education

Trent Tucker | Posted 05.07.2012

Trent Tucker

As much as I would love to tell kids to play sports to escape the lives they may feel predestined to live, it is education that is truly important. With that knowledge it does not matter where you came from -- just where you end up.

'Nobody's Going to F-ing Die Because We're Poor!'

Annie McKee | Posted 04.27.2012

Annie McKee

Of course, rich and middle-class people suffer from cancer and drug abuse, alcoholism, child and spouse abuse. All of these issues are complicated. So is poverty. I know this from my own personal experience.

Poor Americans More And More Likely To Stay That Way

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 04.27.2012

It's getting harder for poor Americans to lift themselves up. Don't believe it? The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has some pretty compelling evide...

Why I'll Miss Rick Santorum

Ann O'Leary | Posted 04.13.2012

Ann O'Leary

Here is why I love Rick Santorum and why I paid close attention to his presidential bid, which he finally abandoned this week: Throughout his career in politics, Rick Santorum has never stopped talking about children and families.

Nobody Goes It Alone: Reframing the Poverty Discussion

Kirsten Lodal | Posted 04.04.2012

Kirsten Lodal

"Poor" people don't need anything different from what anybody else needs. The faster we recognize that, and build our social programs in accordance with it, the more good we'll be able to do.

Alexander Eichler

Why It's A Terrible Time To Be A Low-Income Renter

HuffingtonPost.com | Alexander Eichler | Posted 03.14.2012

Everyone knows the economy has been rough on homeowners lately. But for people who rent -- especially for people who rent and don't make very much mon...

If a Parent Who Reads to Her Child is "Good," is One Who Doesn't "Bad?"

Gregory Michie | Posted 04.11.2012

Gregory Michie

If you're a parent struggling to make ends meet, you're probably going to choose to spend $1.99 for a gallon at Aldi rather than $6.99 for organic at Whole Foods. Does that mean you don't care as much about the health of your child?

First Lady Promoting Healthy Food In Low-Income Neighborhoods

AP | CHRISTINA HOAG | Posted 04.02.2012

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Michelle Obama says a proposed new supermarket in the middle of a blue-collar Hispanic neighborhood in Southern California is an ...

Foreclosure Wreckage: Can Dr. King's Dream Be Saved?

Preeti Vissa | Posted 03.12.2012

Preeti Vissa

A return to the bad old days of redlining -- simply denying credit to whole groups of Americans on the basis of their income or skin color -- is not the route to stability in the housing market.

Number of Working Poor Families Continues to Grow: Does Work Still Pay?

Brandon Roberts | Posted 02.19.2012

Brandon Roberts

It's time for policy makers to put American working families first. As more families drop from the middle class, the number of working families that are low-income increases.

Eleanor Goldberg

Family Living On $22,000 A Year Reflects New Low-Income Stats

HuffingtonPost.com | Eleanor Goldberg | Posted 12.16.2011

When doctor's bills started to mount after Joe Gallardo's daughter was born prematurely in September, the father of three took on a second job -- uppi...

$62 Million For Heating Bill Assistance

The Huffington Post | Posted 11.30.2011

Republicans in Michigan's House announced a plan Tuesday that they say would decrease utility rates and protect low-income citizens from utility-shuto...

There's room in Cyberspace for us all

Craig Newmark | Posted 01.16.2012

Craig Newmark

Hey folks, I recently donated some web gear to The Women's Building in San Francisco to help out with their free computer lab. Not everyone has the me...

Low-Income Michigan Families Taxed Into Poverty: Report

The Huffington Post | Kate Abbey-Lambertz | Posted 11.16.2011

While Michigan businesses are expecting a 1.1 billion-dollar tax break come January, low-income families in the state have seen their taxes raised ove...

Most States Experience Significant Rise In Levels Of 'Deep Poverty'

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 11.23.2011

The closer one looks at the Census data on American poverty, the more discouraging it becomes. It was already known that the national poverty rate ...

Thinking Outside the Sandbox on Avoiding the Summer Slide

Laura Bornfreund | Posted 10.01.2011

Laura Bornfreund

Students regress about a month during summer break. But for children from low-income families, it can be even more, especially when it comes to reading growth. And over time, this phenomenon snowballs.

Speaker Boehner and the Binge on Top

Deborah Weinstein | Posted 09.25.2011

Deborah Weinstein

If the usual ways of contacting Congress aren't satisfactory, sing to them. With apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein, we have created a new version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" that we call "Binge on Top." Have a listen.

Share Of Youth In US At Record Low, Raises 'Urgent Questions' About Future Resources

AP | By HOPE YEN | Posted 09.11.2011

WASHINGTON -- Children now make up less of America's population than ever before, even with a boost from immigrant families. And when this generation...

Love NYC's Diversity? Then Strengthen Rent Regulations

Brad Lander | Posted 08.03.2011

Brad Lander

Rent regulations aren't just our best affordable housing program. They are something much deeper: policy for a diverse, stable city.

Missing From the Debate Over the Deficit: The Human Costs of Budget Cuts

Deborah Weinstein | Posted 08.02.2011

Deborah Weinstein

By Deborah Weinstein and Melissa Boteach Listening to the politically-charged debate over the budget deficit and federal debt limit it's easy to forg...

Defining Economic Security For American Families

Posted 06.14.2011

What does it take to have economic stability in America? That was the question posed by the organization Wider Opportunities for Women, which recentl...

Early Childhood Education Is At Risk

Pam Allyn | Posted 06.09.2011

Pam Allyn

We are currently in the midst of a series of budget battles, and funding for vital early childhood education programs is at risk of being cut or eliminated entirely.