14 Ways To Reduce Poverty In America

Millions of Americans live in poverty. Children often grow up without the advantages of a stable home, high-quality schools, or consistent nutrition, and adults are often hampered by inadequate skills and education, leading to limited wages and job opportunities. How can we address this problem? The Hamilton Project (THP) at Brookings recently released 14 evidence-based proposals as a guide for policymakers:

1. Expand preschool access for disadvantaged children.

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By the start of kindergarten, poor children are already faring worse than their higher-income peers when it comes to cognitive abilities and behavioral problems. Expanding access to and the quality of preschool programs among poor children under the age of 5 could help address this. Read More.

2. Address the “parenting divide” to promote early childhood development for disadvantaged children.

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The data show that economically advantaged parents invest more than money in their children. They also spend more productive time with their children than do economically disadvantaged parents, a trend that deepens the social and economic divide and contributes to poverty in America.

But what if there were a set of smart policies to promote more effective parenting and child development in low-income families? The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services could help support and modify existing programs through evidence-based research, as well as add new innovations into the mix. Read More.

3. Reduce unintended pregnancies for young women.

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Children born to young, unmarried mothers in the United States face an elevated risk of poverty. A social marketing campaign designed to improve knowledge and attitudes about ways to prevent unintended pregnancies, especially through long-acting reversible contraceptives, could make a real impact. Read More.

4. Design effective mentoring programs for disadvantaged youth.

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The need for mentoring programs is indisputable given that up to nine million children in the United States have no caring adults in their lives. Evidence shows that community-based programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, are most likely to be successful in improving subsequent labor market earnings among disadvantaged youth.

Additional support from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—including nonprofits, foundations, and charitable organizations—as well as private-sector entities could allow these types of mentoring programs to provide disadvantaged youth with opportunities that could propel them forward in life. Read More.

5. Expand summer job opportunities for low-Income kids.

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Summer jobs for high school students are not a new idea, but they can be a vital bridge to higher achievement by allowing young people to maintain some intellectual engagement outside of the classroom while gaining experience in the work force. The Department of Labor could take action to stimulate the creation of more summer youth employment programs for disadvantaged youth. Read More.

6. Address the academic barriers to higher education.

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Estimates suggest that more than one-third of all first-year students at higher education institutions take some form of remedial coursework in either English or mathematics, but this figure can be as high as 60 or 70 percent of students at some institutions.

Students placed into remedial programs are often held back from taking college-level courses, and are effectively blocked from pursuing higher education. By improving the remediation process, we can better address individual students’ academic needs and increase the rate of college success. Read More.

7. Expand apprenticeship opportunities for U.S. workers.

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Formal apprenticeship programs to train workers have seen great success in Britain and South Carolina as a highly cost-effective way to train workers and increase lifetime earnings. The Departments of Labor and Commerce—along with state governments and Career Academies—can help fight poverty by expanding access to these programs among today’s workforce. Read More.

8. Reward colleges for better preparing low-income students for high-paying jobs.

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If public universities aren't offering courses that lead to high paying work, they aren't going to do as much to level the playing field for low-income students. By offering incentives for public universities to add courses focused on these areas, students could see their job opportunities rise considerably after graduation. Read More.

9. Provide disadvantaged workers with the skills that they need to succeed in the workforce.

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Congress has allowed funding for the Workforce Investment Act to flat line, and many states have fallen behind in updating training systems. Updating and fully funding these programs could take a bite out of the "skills gap" while helping workers earn higher wages. Read More.

10. Support working families by offering an updated refundable child-care credit.

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The current federal child care support program—in particular, the Child and Dependent Care Credit—does not provide as much support as it could to those families at the bottom of the income distribution. Making the credit refundable and introducing a series of adjustments to better target the credit would magnify the impact for working families and increase employment for working mothers with young children. Read More.

11. Build on the success of the Earned Income Tax Credit.

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The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been a colossal success in lifting thousands of families out of poverty, but now it’s time to get more out of it. Under the current design of the EITC, families with one child receive disproportionately lower refunds than families with two or more children. Expanding the one-child schedule to be on par with the two-child schedule would incentivize work and increase the real income of working families. Read More.

12. Encourage work-sharing programs to prevent unemployment.

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Work sharing—where a company reduces employees’ total work hours in exchange for curtailing layoffs— is a fundamental tool that Europeans have used to protect against unemployment during recession, so why isn’t the U.S. moving forward with similar programs? The Department of Labor could help states get the ball rolling with these critical programs. Read More.

13. Make thoughtful minimum wage policy at the state and local levels.

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Mandatory minimum wage levels have been an effective tool to combat poverty, and various state and local governments (notably Seattle) have set minimum wages over the federal level. A smart framework for adjusting minimum wages on a regional level would maximize the impact that minimum wage laws can have on poverty. Read More.

14. Work smarter, better and faster with predictive analytics.

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Every level of government could benefit from the new renaissance of “big data.” By identifying which areas need help thorough needs assessments, predictive analytics can improve the performance of government agencies and social programs. Read More.