This special report of the Voices for Illinois Children argues that a refundable state earned income tax credit (EITC) would foster employment and reduce taxes for low-income Illinois families. The report maintains that many low-income working families and those beginning the transition from welfare to work confront ongoing poverty despite having…

Federal social programs in the 1960s allowed for the emergence of a Black middle class. Current government proposals for massive budget cuts in social programs limit the traditional avenues of access to the middle class and deny many poor Blacks the opportunity to attain the American dream. (Author/MJL)

Notes that President Clinton's final budget provides $94 billion of tax relief for American families. Discusses the education tax credit, including the Hope Scholarship and Pell Grant awards; children's health insurance coverage, aimed primarily at low-income children; the child tax credit, aimed at working families; and the capital gains tax cut,…

This study examined the effects on low-income families of being on a waiting list to receive child care subsidies under the Minnesota Child Care Sliding Fee Program. It surveyed 270 randomly-selected families in Hennepin County who had been on the waiting list, 38 of whom had begun receiving assistance at the time of the study. It found that: (1)…

The number of employed Americans increased but so did the number of those without jobs, as recovery from the 1980 recession proved to be brief; the family income of high-wage workers exceeded the poverty level, even when unemployed. (Author/SSH)

Presents a conceptual model for better understanding how poverty jeopardizes a host of childhood and adulthood abilities. Links the model with various policy initiatives that attempt to curb poverty or its detrimental effects. Suggests that low family income compromises children's physical growth, cognitive development, socioemotional functioning,…

The title of this article is the theme of the Child Care Tax Credits Outreach Campaign launched by the National Women's Law Center. It is designed to publicize information about tax assistance for low- and moderate-income families and to provide training to child care providers. Sources of additional information are cited. (LB)

In response to Lee Hansen and Burton Weisbrod's study conducted over a decade ago, California policy has attempted to shift a greater portion of the burden of support for higher education from lower income families. A recent reexamination of the study by Joseph McGuire that disputes the original study is challenged. (JMD)

In 1991, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) developed an empirical estimate of the magnitude of the problems mother-only families face in escaping poverty. The GAO also tried to identify federal policies that could help such families. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the Labor Market Experience of Youth were used to assess the…

This paper describes a series of proposed analyses that would make use of existing information from national surveys of the school-aged population and other large-scale databases in order to illuminate trends in the makeup, life circumstances, schooling, and educational achievement of the population of United States children that is eligible for…

Continuing erosion of the structure of low-income families perpetuates a vicious cycle of moral and economic troubles--poverty, drug and alcohol dependency, out-of-wedlock births, child and spouse abuse, juvenile delinquency, and crime--that feed on and create more impaired families. Accordingly, this report contends that the major portion of the…

This publication highlights key messages and themes of a conference to discuss critical questions, challenges, and opportunities facing California's welfare and workforce development systems. It is intended as a resource manual that presents the most up-to-date thinking on how policies and services can be designed to better meet the needs of…