The working poor are employable people who have found low-paying jobs and barely scrape out a living. By removing many forms of federal aid, the Reagan administration has locked the working poor into poverty. In saving a few dollars today, we are penalizing the next generation. (CS)

Describes the failure of the low incomes of working and welfare poor to provide minimally sufficient food, proper nutrition and corresponding good health. Recommends the establishment of governmental programs to provide adequate nourishing food and nutrition information to need sectiony of the population. (SF)

Poverty is an important antecedent factor affecting education. One of the most striking characteristics of rural poverty is the extent to which the rural poor work. About 65% of poor nonmetro families have at least one worker, compared to 54% of poor metro families. This report focuses on federal and state policy reforms that would assure poor…

An empirical analysis of the effects of alternative income maintenance programs, The Survey of Economic Opportunity, was used to obtain estimates of the labor supply parameters required to assess the implications of these programs for hours of work of male family heads. Labor supply response to changes in the family heads' net wages and in family…

America today is haunted by the paradox of hunger and food insecurity amidst unprecedented prosperity. Despite a record economic expansion, millions of American households struggle to find sufficient resources to feed family members. Focusing on families with children, this report presents current evidence on hunger and food insecurity, identifies…

This report examines state earned income tax credits (EICs) as a means to assist working poor families to escape poverty. Specifically, the report notes that six states have their own EICs, expressed as a percentage of the federal EIC, with the advantages being that the credit is a reward for work, is a pro-family policy, is efficiently targeted,…

The Family Assistance Plan and the President's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs are both proposals which incorporate a negative income tax provision and which are aimed at reforming the present welfare system. This study is concerned with the effect these proposed income supplements will have on work decisions of male heads of families in…

The purpose of the study is to begin a detailed investigation of the low-paid work force and to focus attention on the determinants of low-wage employment, by dissecting the various forces that contribute to the determination of wage levels for full-time full-year workers. The question is whether low-wage poverty can be eliminated by upgrading the…

This paper analyzes the role the community college plays as a bridge to opportunity for the working poor and economically disadvantaged. Because educating the disadvantaged is expensive and often under-funded--particularly in the area of basic or remedial education--many community colleges opt to focus on educating more advantaged students in…

The study described in this paper used data from two national samples of families with children to describe the home environments in which welfare children are being raised and to identify the children's health, learning, and behavior problems. The study compared children whose families had received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)…

States have used variants of these three approaches to structure the welfare to-work component of welfare reform for single mothers: (1) put education or training first; (2) place job searching first; and (3) create a flexible program that allows staff and participants choice in the initial and subsequent activities. Research on these program…

It is becoming increasingly clear that "work first" solutions to welfare reform such as Wisconsin Works (W-2) are problematic for families with a disabled parent or child. Wisconsin's existing policies are especially ill-tailored to meet the special needs of the following broad categories of low-income families: (1) W-2 families that…