On Trump’s menu: Taking food assistance away from those who need it most
A new rule from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to take away food assistance from at least 750,000 people if they cannot meet harsh new work reporting requirements. The rule would significantly weaken the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),...The Youth Opportunity Guarantee: A Framework for Success
This report introduces a Youth Opportunity Guarantee of education, training, and employment for all youth ages 16 to 24 in the United States. After years of extensive research and consultation with well over 100 experts and stakeholders, GCPI has created a framework that integrates secondary, postsecondary, and employment systems to make long-term labor market success a reality for all youth in the United States.
Structurally Unsound: The Impact of Using Block Grants to Fund Economic Security Programs
This analysis finds that block grants (characterized by capped amounts of federal funding to states and other entities paired with expansive flexibility for how the funds are spent) are fundamentally ill-equipped to support basic living standards compared to other structures, especially those that meaningfully guarantee access to adequate benefits or services. Specifically, block grants struggle to respond to need, can be less accountable to program goals and to the people who participate in the program, and can exacerbate inequities–especially racial inequities.
Unworkable & Unwise: Conditioning Access to Programs that Ensure a Basic Foundation for Families on Work Requirements
This working paper outlines the ramifications of taking away Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and housing assistance from those who do not document meeting new work and community engagement requirements. The paper underscores how proposals that take away basic assistance from people who don’t meet work requirements are ill-informed, ineffective, inefficient, and inequitable, while alternative policies would produce far better outcomes.
A Civil Rights Issue: The Minimum Wage & Wage Theft
Raising the minimum wage, improving wage theft protections, and eliminating the tipped minimum wage can help ensure workers’ receive their legally owed earnings and improve their economic security.
House farm bill: The latest assault on disability rights
Over the last year, people with disabilities have fought against attacks on their health care, civil rights, and supports that make inclusion in society possible. Now, as the House and Senate prepare to iron out a final version of the bill, we urge those involved to adopt the Senate’s approach to SNAP.
Why a Fair and Accurate Census Matters to Thriving Private and Public Sectors
Both the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey (ACS) face fiscal, operational, and policy threats that could jeopardize a fair and accurate count and weaken the data that shape thriving public and private sectors. This resource explains the vital roles the 2020 Census and ACS play in the health care, education, housing, local government, transportation, and manufacturing sectors and the steps stakeholders can take to protect the surveys.
2018 Census End-to-End Test: Importance & Risks
This issue brief provides an overview of what observers and stakeholders should expect from the 2018 End-to-End (E2E) Census Test, often called the “dress rehearsal.” As the last, most comprehensive test before 2020 Census operations begin, the E2E Census Test is fundamental to the 2020 Census’ goal: “to count everyone once, only once and in the right place.”
Bare Minimum: Why We Need to Raise Wages for America’s Lowest-Paid Families
This is a report on working people and their struggle to make a living when paid the federal minimum wage. The report makes a case for raising wages that is grounded in history, economics, movements across the country, and the lived experience of our nation’s lowest-paid working people, with a particular focus on eliminating the tipped minimum wage and the subminimum wage for working people with disabilities.