by Cassidy Viser, Isabella Camacho-Craft, Kali Grant and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Feb 3, 2021 | Brief, Data & Workbooks
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the growing need for child care, paid leave, and unemployment assistance, but many state and federal unemployment assistance and paid leave programs fail to account for the child care needs of working families. This project chronicles and analyzes state-by-state policies on the availability of wage replacements for workers without child care. The table lists policies on the availability of unemployment assistance and paid leave by state, including D.C. and territories, including definitions of school “closures” for regular and pandemic unemployment assistance eligibility, work search requirements, and working documentation of state paid leave programs.
by Steve Holt, Kali Grant and Funke Aderonmu | Nov 16, 2020 | Data & Workbooks, Report
Refundable tax credits are powerful tools for advancing economic security and opportunity, reducing poverty, and improving the lives of families in need. Despite their successes, these tax credits are limited by a key misalignment: unaffordable living expenses, unstable pay, and persistent hardship are experienced consistently or unpredictably throughout the year, unlike the single annual tax credit disbursement. This report provides a framework for policymakers and advocates seeking to create periodic payment options that align tax credit disbursement timing to need and advance economic, racial, and gender equity. The report also outlines specific periodic payment design recommendations for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, including flexible disbursement options.
by Sheila Naughton, Kali Grant, Michael Evangelist and Patrick Cooney | Aug 7, 2020 | Brief
COVID-19 response legislation greatly strengthened and expanded the dollar amount, duration, and coverage of unemployment assistance. These changes have prompted questions about the implications for workers receiving disability benefits. This brief discusses the interaction between disability benefits and unemployment assistance and clarifies benefits that unemployed workers can receive through pandemic-related unemployment assistance. It is published jointly with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, The Arc, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, The Century Foundation, and The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities.
by Sophie Khan, Kali Grant, Carrie Felton, Amelia Nawn, Caitlin Schnur, Melissa Young and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Dec 11, 2019 | Fact Sheet
Subsidized employment is a promising and proven strategy for creating more equitable and accessible pathways to stable employment for all—especially people facing serious barriers to employment. A review of 40 years of subsidized employment programs found that subsidized employment models can increase incomes and employment, reduce involvement with the criminal justice system, improve the psychological well-being of participants and their families, and reduce long-term poverty. This resource highlights the broad range of occupations that have been made available through subsidized employment programs.
by Melissa Boteach, Amy Matsui, Kali Grant, Funke Aderonmu, Rachel Black and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Nov 15, 2019 | Fact Sheet, Report
This report, published jointly with the National Women’s Law Center, offers a new vision for a tax code that works for women, people of color, and low- and moderate-income families. Centuries of racist, sexist policy choices and discrimination have created significant barriers for women and people of color to build the kind of wealth our tax code now rewards. At the same time, insufficient tax revenues—exacerbated by tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations—constrain budgets for programs that help people afford their basic needs. The paper proposes a framework to help policymakers, advocates, and the public evaluate when and how refundable tax credits can advance equity, economic mobility, and opportunity for all.
by Kali Grant, Cara Brumfield, Sophie Khan, Funke Aderonmu and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Jul 24, 2019 | Report
At some point in our lives, nearly all of us will need to take time away from a job to address a loved one’s or our own serious illness, or to welcome a new child into our family. In this report, GCPI synthesizes research on paid leave and makes recommendations for designing a national paid leave policy that advances equity and accomplishes three interrelated goals:
Allows all workers to provide necessary care for themselves and their families;
Supports better health and child development outcomes for workers and their families; and
Ensures the financial stability of workers, their families, and their employers.
by Kali Grant, Sophie Khan, Nathaniel Counts, Madeline Reinert, Theresa Nguyen and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Jul 21, 2019 | Brief, Report
In this joint report with Mental Health America, we present a new approach to mental health and substance use care and treatment in the United States. The report introduces a whole-family, whole-community behavioral health approach: a vision of a society that adequately supports mental health, physical health, and social and financial well-being. The report offers leaders in the health care, educational, criminal justice, child welfare and other systems a united policy agenda to ultimately improve health and economic opportunity.
by Casey Goldvale, Kali Grant, Indi Dutta-Gupta, Sophie Khan, Sophie Collyer, Christopher Wimer and Isaac Santelli | Jun 12, 2019 | Report
Jobs are at the heart of our nation’s debates around poverty and economic security. In this joint report from the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, we find that a comprehensive subsidized employment program would reach millions of U.S. workers left behind in today’s economy, reducing the poverty rate among participants by nearly half.
by Kali Grant and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Apr 1, 2019 | Blog
A new rule from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to take away food assistance from at least 750,000 people if they cannot meet harsh new work reporting requirements. The rule would significantly weaken the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),...
by Cara Brumfield, Funke Aderonmu, Kali Grant, Aileen Carr, Indi Dutta-Gupta, Isabella Camacho-Craft, Doug Steiger and Peter Edelman | Feb 28, 2019 | Brief, Report
This analysis finds that block grants (characterized by capped amounts of federal funding to states and other entities paired with expansive flexibility for how the funds are spent) are fundamentally ill-equipped to support basic living standards compared to other structures, especially those that meaningfully guarantee access to adequate benefits or services. Specifically, block grants struggle to respond to need, can be less accountable to program goals and to the people who participate in the program, and can exacerbate inequities–especially racial inequities.
