An America without poverty is possible.

The Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality is a research center that generates policy solutions to improve the lives of people experiencing poverty in the United States.

Our Policy Issues

Good Jobs

Promoting job quality and job creation policies that ensure well-paying, secure jobs with fair benefits and build worker power.

Explore Good Jobs ≫

Public Benefits

Building the case for whole-family, community-centered approaches to food assistance, cash support, and social services. 

Explore Public Benefits ≫

Income & Cash

Championing income supports—including cash assistance and tax credits—that help families meet their basic needs and promote economic mobility.

Explore Income & Cash ≫

Care

Designing policies that recognize and fairly compensate caregiving labor, including paid leave.  

Explore Care ≫

Housing

Investing in housing as a social good, including solutions that secure stable, affordable housing for all families.

Explore Housing ≫

Latest from GCPI

This is a stock photo of many lines of code.
Blog, | Sep 17, 2025
Introducing the People-Centered Digital Benefits Project

Millions of Americans rely on public benefits to meet daily needs, yet outdated delivery systems and unnecessary barriers too often make accessing help a struggle. GCPI’s new People-Centered Digital Benefits Project highlights state innovations and the lessons they offer for creating modern benefit delivery systems that meet people’s needs. In this post, Visiting Fellow Andres Arguello previews the project, which will showcase proven models that are fast, fair, and dignified. We will make the successes visible and replicable, providing practical resources for policymakers, agency leaders, and practitioners.

This is a stock photo of many lines of code.
Blog, | Sep 17, 2025
Building Digital Benefits That Protect Privacy for All

As states move toward digital benefit systems, new opportunities arise, but so do new risks. In this post, Affiliate Scholar Jae June Lee examines the roots of the class differential in privacy, and raises broader concerns about the increasing surveillance that low-income families face—from invasive verification practices to expansive data-sharing systems. He explores why safeguards are critical to preventing a “digital welfare dystopia” and offers insights for practitioners to design and implement digital systems carefully.

Press Release, | Sep 10, 2025
Lelaine Bigelow Named 2025 Aspen Ascend Fellow

The Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality (GCPI) is proud to announce that Executive Director Lelaine Bigelow has been selected as a 2025 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow.
The Aspen Ascend Fellowship brings together a diverse, cross-sector cohort of leaders who are reimagining and reshaping systems to improve well-being for children, families, and communities. Since its founding in 2012, the Fellowship has built a network of more than 180 changemakers nationwide who are advancing bold solutions to foster intergenerational mobility and opportunity.

As an Ascend Fellow, Lelaine will focus on advancing a policy agenda that centers women of color in efforts to combat poverty—not as an afterthought, but as a powerful and strategic pathway to lasting economic well-being for all families. This focus builds on her leadership at GCPI, where she has championed research-driven solutions to address poverty and inequality.

Brief, | Sep 03, 2025
What’s At Stake if Congress Lets the Enhanced ACA Premium Tax Credits Expire?

Without action from Congress, subsidies that keep health insurance premiums affordable for millions will expire at the end of 2025. Expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits would push health care out of reach for millions, roll back progress toward health equity, and destabilize the health care system. Families with low incomes, particularly Black and Latinx families, and people at risk of losing Medicaid would be hit the hardest. This analysis highlights what’s at risk for families, health equity, and the broader health care system.

Blog, | Jul 24, 2025
Big, Beautiful Paperwork: Dismantling Programs That Help Women Work

Women are working despite the odds, including unequal pay, unpredictable low-wage jobs, and few or no benefits. The recently passed reconciliation law—dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA) by its backers—adds harsh new work requirements to SNAP and Medicaid. The result? Millions of working women, mothers, single moms, and grandmothers could lose access to food assistance and health coverage—not because they don’t work hard enough, but because of rigid rules that ignore the realities of women’s lives.