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Find the latest stories, research, and insights on policies, programs, and ideas shaping the national conversation on poverty and economic mobility.

In the News
Child Tax Credit
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
2025
Senate Bill Would Make Deep Cuts to Medicaid, Sets up Fight With House
June 17, 2025

Senate Bill Would Make Deep Cuts to Medicaid, Sets up Fight With House

“Senate Republicans on Monday released legislation that would cut Medicaid far more aggressively than would the House-passed bill to deliver President Trump’s domestic agenda, while also salvaging or slowing the elimination of some clean-energy tax credits, setting up a fight over their party’s marquee policy package.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
Hunger
2025
Senate Looks to Pare Back SNAP Cuts, Work Requirements
June 13, 2025

Senate Looks to Pare Back SNAP Cuts, Work Requirements

“The Senate Agriculture Committee is proposing some notable changes to the controversial food stamp provisions in the House-approved version of Republicans’ megabill.

In the News
Aging
Disability
Economic Opportunity
Health
Health disparities
2025
The Effect of Budget Cuts on Vulnerable Seniors
June 12, 2025

The Effect of Budget Cuts on Vulnerable Seniors

"Proposed federal budget cuts to health and social programs would affect about 8 million seniors living in poverty. Many rely on state and federal support that the Trump Administration wants to cut."

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
Medicaid
Arkansas
2025
Arkansans Who Saw Medicaid Work Requirements Up Close Warn of 'Chaos'
June 9, 2025

Arkansans Who Saw Medicaid Work Requirements Up Close Warn of 'Chaos'

“Many of the Republicans pushing for Medicaid work requirements — permanent program cuts that will strip up to 14 million people of their health care coverage — likely have no idea what it takes to comply with them. We do. As legal aid lawyers, we were on the front lines helping low-income people in Arkansas keep their health care coverage when the state rolled out work requirements in 2018. The policy caused chaos for everyone involved: people receiving Medicaid, hospitals and health clinics, pharmacies, social services organizations and state agency caseworkers. No officials serious about governing should willingly create such problems for their own state.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
Medicaid
2025
White House Vows No Medicaid Cuts—Except to Those Who Don’t Deserve Benefits
June 3, 2025

White House Vows No Medicaid Cuts—Except to Those Who Don’t Deserve Benefits

“The White House plans to confront resistance to Medicaid cuts from Senate Republicans by arguing that any reductions in coverage would only affect people who didn’t deserve it in the first place.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
Medicaid
2025
Medicaid Cuts Emerge as Early 2026 Flash Point
June 2, 2025

Medicaid Cuts Emerge as Early 2026 Flash Point

"Early battle lines are form“Early battle lines are forming over a centerpiece of the sprawling domestic policy bill that House Republicans narrowly passed, with Medicaid spending cuts emerging as a flash point that could define the 2026 midterm elections.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Families
Health
Health disparities
Medicaid
2025
Josh Hawley Stakes Out Ground as Chief GOP Defender of Medicaid
May 30, 2025

Josh Hawley Stakes Out Ground as Chief GOP Defender of Medicaid

“Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is staking out his spot as a populist defender of Medicaid in opposition to the steep cuts contained in the House-passed megabill to fund President Trump’s domestic agenda.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Economic Opportunity
Families
Guaranteed Income
Health disparities
2025
The Myth of The Poverty Trap
May 29, 2025

The Myth of The Poverty Trap

“We used to be trapped. And by “we,” I really do mean all of us. A few hundred years ago, the majority of the world lived in extreme poverty, and even in recent decades, people lucky enough to clear the $2.15-per-day threshold were living lives that others in the developed world would find unrecognizable.

In the News
Child and Youth Well-Being
Health
Health disparities
Hunger
Nutrition
Nebraska
2025
Nebraska to Ban Soda And Energy Drinks From SNAP Under First USDA Waiver
May 27, 2025

Nebraska to Ban Soda And Energy Drinks From SNAP Under First USDA Waiver

“Nebraska is the first state to receive a federal waiver to ban the purchase of soda and energy drinks under the benefit program for low-income Americans long known as food stamps.