JUST IDEAS
Supreme Court Decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson Punishes People for Experiencing Poverty
The Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson effectively criminalizes homelessness. This decision is a cruel, counterproductive move that punishes people for experiencing poverty.
The Census Bureau Must Improve Coverage of Historically Undercounted Communities in Administrative Data Linkage Projects
Administrative data can supplement census data and improve the accuracy and quality of the census. However, poorly designed administrative data projects may inadvertently exacerbate existing disparities that stem from census undercounts, including among people of color and immigrants. This blog argues that administrative data linkage cannot advance equity without improved representation of historically undercounted communities in both census data and administrative data.
Insufficient Transparency in Data Sharing: A Call for Change
The 2020 Census was the first census to incorporate administrative data as a cornerstone of its design to improve survey quality, reduce costs, and lower burdens for everyone responding to the census. To acquire administrative data, the Census Bureau enters into data sharing agreements with government agencies and commercial entities. However, the terms and details of these data sharing agreements are typically inaccessible to the public. This blog highlights the advantages and potential risks of data sharing and underscores the need for increased transparency in data sharing agreements.
Subsidized Employment Programs Are Good for Workers, Employers, & Society
Subsidized employment programs are engines for economic opportunity, stronger labor markets, and healthier communities. This blog highlights select evidence demonstrating that subsidized employment is good for workers and employers and can help create a strong, inclusive economy.
Blog: Advancing Data Equity for U.S. Territories
Millions of people living in the U.S. territories—including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are often excluded from federal statistical data collection. This contributes to a significant racial justice issue. Without comprehensive data, policymakers and researchers cannot fully understand the socio-economic challenges faced by all U.S. residents, including people living in the territories, who are disproportionately people of color. This blog—originally published by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights—highlights the disparities in data collection between the U.S. territories and the rest of the U.S., the need for collecting high-quality data in U.S. territories, and the negative implications of analyzing an incomplete portrait of the nation.
Debt Ceiling Agreement Includes Inequitable, Ineffective, & Inefficient Work Reporting Requirements
The latest debt ceiling agreement threatens to take away food and cash assistance from people with low incomes—especially older women—if they cannot meet harsh work reporting requirements. The latest bill would add another hurdle to accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for older Americans ages 50-54 and doubles down on existing SNAP time limits for childless adults under 50 and existing work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
Inclusive Policies for Immigrants Promote Economic Security
All who call the U.S. home should have the opportunity to thrive and support their families. Millions of immigrants and their families disproportionately face barriers to opportunity, and are unnecessarily excluded from public programs like CHIP, Medicaid, and the Child Tax Credit. Research shows that immigrant-inclusive public policy improves public health outcomes and reduces poverty. This blog highlights reforms needed to achieve a more equitable and prosperous society for everyone and improve the nation’s overall economic security and opportunity.
Subsidized Employment Can Help Fight Poverty in Good Times & Bad
Nearly 15 million people in the U.S. who would like to work are unable to find a job—despite a historically low national unemployment rate. This blog, published in partnership with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, highlights one policy tool that would help create jobs and boost earnings for people in disinvested neighborhoods and communities: subsidized employment. A half-century’s worth of evidence suggests that a large-scale subsidized jobs program would help ensure the communities typically left behind in periods of economic growth can share in the nation’s economic security and opportunity.
Untangling Unemployment Assistance Benefits in 2020: A Flow Chart
GCPI, the National Employment Law Project, and the Century Foundation created a flowchart to clarify which pandemic-response or regular unemployment assistance benefits may be available to workers from late March 2020 through late December 2020 and under which circumstances.
Anti-Monopoly Fund announces second round of investments
The Anti-Monopoly Fund is thrilled to announce its second round of investments to 14 organizations, including the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality’s Economic Security and Opportunity Initiative, to bolster the ongoing fight against monopoly power in every facet of our economy, democracy, and society.