Publications

Brief, | Oct 24, 2024
Nowhere to Turn: State Abortion Bans and the Failure to Support Women with Public Benefits

Since the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022, many low-income women have nowhere to turn: they face the economic repercussions of being denied abortion care and lack access to the support they need to care for a growing family. This brief looks at how abortion bans and insufficient public benefits at the state level affect women and families. It finds that states with abortion bans often do not provide enough supportive resources for growing families, like health care, food assistance, and cash support. The brief also offers federal policy recommendations to help families meet their everyday needs—no matter what state they live in.

Fact Sheet, | Sep 27, 2024
Re-Imagining TANF as an Anti-Racist Program That Effectively Serves Families

Eliminating poverty in America is within reach, and a reimagined Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is key to achieving it. TANF can provide critical support to low-income families, but systemic barriers—like work requirements, complex applications, and inadequate cash assistance—limit its effectiveness. This fact sheet outlines how transforming TANF to focus on direct cash support, racial and gender equity, and reducing administrative burdens can improve the economic well-being of millions of low-income families and address the deep-rooted inequalities that disproportionately affect communities of color.

Brief, | Sep 05, 2024
State Best Practices To Improve Pay for Direct Care Workers & Help Solve the HCBS Workforce Crisis

Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services make it possible for people with disabilities and older adults to live in their own homes and communities, where most people prefer to live. A long-standing direct care worker shortage, caused by low pay and poor working conditions and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, threatens access to direct care. State and local governments are innovating to respond to the care crisis. This brief highlights a selection of state best practices to improve wages for direct care workers in Medicaid-funded HCBS programs and help solve the workforce crisis. By raising wages, providing good benefits, and increasing job quality for direct care workers, who are disproportionately women and women of color, states can start to build a direct care system in which all consumers, workers, and families can thrive.

Blog, | Aug 20, 2024
Sixty Years Later: Empowering Women to Finish the Fight Against Poverty

Sixty years ago, our nation started something bold, but it remains unfinished. We should recommit to the bold vision of the war on poverty by learning from our successes and mistakes. Women should be the center of a new national poverty agenda. When policies support women, they support everyone, and together, we can build a country where every individual has the freedom to reach their full potential—and flourish.

Report, | Jul 25, 2024
Centering Quality, Centering Equity: Lessons Learned in Increasing Early Childhood Educator Credentials

Thriving communities depend on a strong early childhood education system—one where both young children and members of the workforce are served and supported. Some states are changing credential requirements for ECE teachers, but many early childhood educators face significant barriers to economic security and continuing education—all while supporting children, parents, and their communities with specialized education services. Our new report with The Institute for College Access and Success examines the racial equity implications of policies that increase credential requirements for ECE jobs. Featuring case studies of California and Washington, D.C., the report offers policy ideas for protecting educators and advancing racial and economic equity, including flexibility and support for incumbent workers, wage increases, and low-cost options for obtaining new credentials.

Lelaine Bigelow headshot
Blog, Statement, | Jun 28, 2024
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.

Laying New Foundations An Anti-Racist Framework for Reimagining Medicaid, CHIP, TANF, and CCDF
Report, | Apr 15, 2024
Laying New Foundations: An Anti-Racist Framework for Reimagining Medicaid, CHIP, TANF, & CCDF

Everyone deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy, stable, and economically secure life. Many government programs aim to provide a stable foundation for all families, but fall short due to legacies of racism. This report puts forth a visionary framework with principles for anti-racist policymaking, focusing on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It includes three spotlights from leaders in Puerto Rico, Texas, and the District of Columbia applying these principles to advance racial and economic justice in their communities.

Brief, | Apr 04, 2024
Re-Envisioning CCDF: Toward an Anti-Racist Child Care System That Serves Families & Educators

Child care is an essential element of our social infrastructure that supports child development, family financial stability, and economic growth. But structural racism and sexism have led to the underinvestment and undervaluation of child care in the United States. This brief, published with the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) offers a new, anti-racist vision for transforming the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) into a program that actively pushes back against structural racism and advances racial equity and economic prosperity for all families. It proposes recommendations for advancing a more equitable child care system.

Blog, | Dec 13, 2023
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.

Blog, | Nov 16, 2023
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.