Poverty

“Each big anniversary of the 1996 welfare reform … sees an outpouring of retrospectives … It’s long been clear that single mothers flooded into the labor force after the reform, and that their income went up. What’s less clear is whether some particularly disadvantaged families were left behind, and how overall well-being changed for the affected households.” - IFS

“President Joe Biden signed into law June 30 a measure under the Congressional Review Act that rescinded the ‘true-lender’ rule, which enabled payday lenders to collaborate with out-of-state banks and thereby avoid bans on predatory loans in states that had outlawed them.” - BPNews

“My thoughts about this man and his work are now entirely different. He didn’t waste his life at all. I have great respect for what this man did.” - P&D

“The Biden administration proposes a global minimum tax on corporations to end the ‘global race to the bottom.’ Leaving aside the wisdom of letting France tax U.S.-based corporations, this phrase recalls one of the regnant canards of our time: Capitalism inevitably lowers living standards and grinds people down into poverty.” - Acton

“Legislating generosity is a way of shifting responsibility for compassion from me personally to everyone else around me. God intended for compassion to be relational not institutional.” - P&D

“Because both sides have noble intentions, the merits of the debate on minimum-wage laws and minimum-wage increases should be judged by Christians on empirical evidence that it will help, rather than harm, the poor.” - TGC

“The city of Seattle, having defunded their police by 18%, is now considering removing the criminal penalty for misdemeanor theft, trespass, and assault if the perpetrator suffers from poverty.” - Veith

“Looting and riots are sometimes presented as “a lashing-out against capitalism,” or even a form of reparations. But here are 6 ways looting most harms the poorest people.” - Acton

“The pontiff said he hopes a UBI will pave the way for the full transformation of society. He called for a ‘humanist and ecological conversion that puts an end to the idolatry of money and places human life and dignity at the center.’” - Acton

“Oxfam’s annual report ‘gives a misleading picture of wealth,’ CEPOS states. ‘Global wealth [inequality] has actually reduced over the past 20 years.’” - Acton