Other Questions to Ask the Candidates

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ASKED OF THE CANDIDATES

1. WORKING POOR. Three million American workers live in poverty while working full time year round. One third of poor children in America have a parent who works full-time, year-round.   

What steps do you think government should take to address poverty among workers and working families? Should we be asking more of business?

2. INEQUALITY.  Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke has said “[R]ising inequality is a concern in the American economy.  It's important for our society that everyone feels that they have an opportunity to participate in the opportunities that the economy is creating.”

Do you agree with Chairman Bernanke’s point? If so, what concrete actions would you pursue to address inequality? If not, what is your view?

3. RACE.  The unemployment rate of black high school graduates was thirty-three percent higher than an unemployment rate for white high school dropouts in 2006.

What, in your view, explains this statistic and what if anything would your Administration do about it?

4. MARRIAGE. Some people think that strengthening marriage is an important step in any effort to reduce poverty. Yet we know too little about what actually works to support healthy marriages.

What role would marriage policies play in your efforts to reduce child poverty and what specific policies would you pursue?

5. CONCENTRATED URBAN POVERTY.   A growing body of research shows that low income families that live in high poverty areas (more than 30 percent of the population is poor) in urban neighborhoods have worse long-term life chances because they are cut off from social and economic opportunities.

Would your approach to concentrated urban poverty be to emphasize improvements within the city, improvements in enabling the poor to leave the city, or another approach?

6. GOVERNMENT ROLE.

What role should personal responsibility play in contributing to reducing poverty in America and what role should the government play? Given your understanding of the role of the government and the individual in moving out of poverty, how does that affect your policy proposals?

7. RURAL POVERTY.  More than 7 million people still live in poverty in rural areas of the United States.  Although poverty is not limited to rural America, of the 386 persistently poor counties in the United States, 88 percent of them are rural. These communities have very little resources to address poverty and its consequences.

What are your proposals to strengthen their economies and build a brighter future for Rural America?

8. WORK SUPPORTS.  Working families who are eligible for government benefits such as food stamps, child care, Medicaid, and the EITC sometimes do not get them.  
        
What changes to current work support policies would your Administration pursue to help provide work supports to working families who struggle to make ends meet?

9. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.  According to a number of anti-poverty initiatives and researchers, reducing poverty can promote economic growth Their position is that if the poor face barriers to work then they cannot contribute to productivity and instead, pose a drain on resources.   

If you share this perspective, what would your Administration do to reduce poverty as a tool for economic growth? If you disagree with this perspective, what is your understanding of the relationship between poverty and economic growth and what policies would your Administration pursue as a result of that perspective?

10. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND OPPORTUNITY. Many business leaders express concern over the lack of skilled labor. Business leaders are increasingly involved in efforts to develop the skilled workforce they need.

Under your administration, what role would the government play in promoting a more skilled workforce?

11. HIGH COST OF BEING POOR.  The Brookings Institution reports that the poor pay more for goods and services such as for food, financial services, and mortgages.   If the cost of living for lower income families were reduced by just one percent, that would translate into over $6.5 billion in new spending power for these families.

What role do you see for the federal government in driving down these costs, and what role do you see for state and local governments or private entities in reducing these costs?

12. INTERNATIONAL STATURE. The United States is the most powerful nation on the globe.  Yet American children fare among the worst among 21 developed nations on measures of health, safety and relative poverty.

Why do you think child poverty is higher in the U.S. than in other developed nations and what consequences do you think that has for our future?

13. ASSETS ENCOURAGING WORK. Working full time substantially lowers a person’s probability of being poor. Among persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, the poverty rate for those usually employed full time was 3.5 percent, compared with 10.2 percent for part-time workers.

What would you do to promote work among the poor? How would you change government programs to promote work?

14. WOMEN AND POVERTY. Women in the United States are more vulnerable to poverty than men. 60 percent of adults in poverty are women; the poverty rate for women is 45 percent higher than it is for men. Many poor women have the additional burden of caring for children, which further constrains their opportunities for sustainable employment.

What steps would you take to tackle the problem of female poverty? Would you direct any policies specifically toward women?

15. EXTREME POVERTY. Nearly one in ten U.S. children – 6 million – live in extreme poverty (below 50 percent of the official poverty level, or just over $10,000 for a family of four).  

What actions do you think are or would be most effective at addressing extreme poverty?

16. THE COSTS OF CHILD POVERTY.   The impact of persistent childhood poverty on adult opportunities costs the U.S. economy $500 billion a year according to a recent Urban Institute study.

What policies, if any, would your administration have that particularly focus on reducing the likelihood of children being in persistent poverty?

17. HOMELESSNESS. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that about three and half million people are likely to experience homelessness each year, and that about one and a third million of those are children. About one in 10 poor people experience homelessness each year.

What would be your priority actions to address homelessness in America?