The United States Conference of Mayors makes available its annual status report on hunger and homelessness in America's cities. "The survey, conducted in 25 cities, examined the causes of hunger and homelessness, the demographic groups that make up this population, demand for emergency food and housing-related assistance, model programs that respond to these problems, and the projected impact of...

"Extended Measures of Well-Being: Meeting Basic Needs, 1995," a recently published population report, examines demographic data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. It concludes that one in five people had difficulty meeting basic needs, such as food, shelter, and health care, in 1995 and found that "more than one quarter of children (29 percent) lived in a household in which...

This resource highlights the economic difficulties faced by many one parent families across race and income lines due to insufficient or nonexistent child support. A joint Census Bureau and Department of Health and Human Services report, it reveals that "about a third (32 percent) of custodial parents who did not receive the child support payments awarded them in 1995 were poor." Based on data...

The Brookings Institution doesn't shy away from the tough topics, in fact, they often embrace them. This recent book by two of their distinguished scholars, Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube, looks at the growing problem of suburban poverty. As they note, "suburbia is now home to more poor residents than central cities." This site, created to promote the book, has great resources for policy...

This 133-page report from the US Census Bureau focuses on experimental measures, as opposed to standardized measures, of poverty in the US such as an after-tax income measure; the value of food stamps, housing vouchers, and other in-kind benefits; and government policies aimed at needy families. The study found that including in-kind benefits greatly decreased the instances of poverty and that...

This 115-page report, released by Economic Policy Institute (EPI) at the end of July 2001, "is the most comprehensive study of family hardships ever published." The report examines the plight of the working poor by determining basic family budgets for communities across the nation -- the amount of money a family needs for food, housing, utilities, child care, transportation, and health care -- and...

Released in August 2005 by the U.S. Census Bureau, this timely 85-page report examines recent changes within the demographic profile of the real median household income of US residents, along with material on the nation's official poverty rate and those persons without health insurance coverage. The data in the report is based on information from 2003 and 2004, and notes that the nation's official...

Last Tuesday, the US Census Bureau released their annual report on poverty. The report gives data on poverty rates by selected characteristics -- age, race, nativity, family composition, work experience, and geography. Findings reveal that the nation's poverty rate dropped from 12.7 percent in 1998 to 11.8 percent in 1999, the lowest rate since 1979. In addition, "real median household income...

The issue of concentrated poverty is one that continues to engage the attention of social workers, politicians, and scholars alike. In this intriguing 24-page report from the Brooking Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, Paul A. Jargowsky presents findings that suggest that concentrated poverty declined significantly during the 1990s. Some of his findings include statistics...

At the Scout Report we love a good interactive map, and the Opportunity Atlas is a fabulous exemplar. This richly detailed map created by researchers at the US Census Bureau and Harvard University visualizes for general audiences and scholars alike the connections between the economic status of adults and the neighborhoods where they grew up. We were impressed by the design and usability of the...