Homeless Coalition’s funds diminished during pandemic; need has not
When the subject of poverty and homelessness comes up, a popular saying is never far from the lips: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
For all its merits, the old Chinese proverb diminishes the urgency of the immediate need. A hungry person needs food now.
Census: Income, poverty numbers stay just about the same
The wallets of America’s middle class and poorest aren’t seeing any extra money, the U.S. Census reported Wednesday, a financial stagnation experts say may be fueling political dissent this campaign season.
Our View: Food Stamp program more than meets the eye
Ever since FDR and the New Deal, there has been a robust debate over what to do about the nation’s poor.
Our View: Poverty’s difficult questions
On Monday, Lewis Whitfield of the CREATE Foundation spoke to the Starkville Rotary Club about the challenges facing our region.
School spending by rich is widening wealth gap
Education is supposed to help bridge the gap between the wealthiest people and everyone else. Ask the experts, and they’ll count the ways:
Preschool can lift children from poverty. Top high schools prepare students for college. A college degree boosts pay over a lifetime. And the U.S. economy would grow faster if more people stayed in school longer.
Affluence eludes poor crowding into Asian cities
Down a concrete path, between rail tracks that buzz with each approaching train and a river choked by plastic and raw sewage, Asih Binti Arif cradles her baby and reflects on dreams gone dark.
Opening a dialogue about poverty
Bobby Weatherly paced in front of a projector in the Starkville Sportsplex gymnasium Tuesday.
He had on brown shoes, tan khakis and a brown shirt that read, “Starkville Bridges.” There were about 20 people in the gym. Weatherly was leading a discussion about how to reduce the presence of predatory lenders.
Poverty experts: Long problem needs long solutions
The transition out of poverty brought one word to mind for Anner Cunningham: Intimidating.
Cunningham works for a non-profit in West Point called the Educational Opportunity Center, which helps people in pursuit of higher education plan their futures.
Finding a way out
Thomas Huffman’s life changed.
A year ago he was living with his parents in West Point. Now he has a job, his own place and a new Chevrolet pickup. The difference, he said, was acquiring work skills.
Statistics paint grim picture of poverty in Golden Triangle
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Census Bureau released a study documenting what parts of the country are considered “poverty areas” — regions with a 20 percent poverty rate or higher.
Our View: Getting at the root of poverty
Figures from a U.S. Census Report paint a grim picture of life in the Golden Triangle. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies “poverty areas” as census tracts with a 20 percent poverty rate or higher. According to this definition the entire Golden Triangle region is a poverty area.
Rep. Ryan proposes streamlining anti-poverty programs
Rep. Paul Ryan proposed a new plan Thursday to merge up to 11 anti-poverty programs into a single grant program for states that he said would allow more flexibility to help lift people out of poverty.
Senate ready to sink effort to boost minimum wage
Hemmed in by solid Republican opposition, the Senate seems ready to hand a fresh defeat to President Barack Obama by blocking an election-year bill increasing the federal minimum wage.
Minimum wage approaches likely rejection
The push by President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage seems ready to join the parade of issues that gets buried in Congress but — the party hopes — propels voters to the polls this November.
Some exempted from minimum wage, increased or not
Some low-paid workers won’t benefit even if a long-shot Democratic proposal to raise the federal minimum wage becomes law.
Budget office: Wage hike would lift pay, cost jobs
Boosting the federal minimum wage as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are proposing would increase earnings for more than 16.5 million people by 2016 but also cut employment by roughly 500,000 jobs, Congress’ nonpartisan budget analyst said Tuesday.
Kathleen Parker: To defeat poverty, look to marriage
As we evaluate the efficacy of the War on Poverty, a single, unquantifiable factor stubbornly demands attention: luck.
Poverty stuck at 15 percent — record 46.5M
Mississippi had the highest share of its residents in poverty: 22 percent
Will fast-food protests spur higher minimum wage?
Terrance Wise has two jobs in Kansas City — one at a burger joint, a second at a pizza restaurant — but he says his
USDA expanding program to fight rural poverty
U.S. officials are expanding a program intended to reduce poverty and improve life in rural areas through better access to federal funding.