"The specific barrier is capital," says Lisa George, global head of the Macquarie Group Foundation. "Without access to capital, it's very hard to get social mobility and educational mobility in life."
Luna Rosado, a single mother, has seen her gas expenses rise by $40 weekly due to a 30 percent increase in prices after the war in Iran. This has resulted in $160 less for groceries and other necessities each month, forcing her to constantly adjust her budget.
"There are people who have come here after escaping violence and persecution and torture. These are communities that we have historically said, 'You are welcome here. We have the support for you. We're going to help you get established in our country.' And now, the federal government is abandoning them."
"Today's vote ignores the well-documented harmful consequences of wage hikes by economists. Not only would this proposal slash up to 86,000 jobs, it would also worsen inflation for Pennsylvania workers and residents."
Cash transforms health when four particular conditions are met. Most U.S. cash-transfer pilots have lacked them. But one major American policy does come close: the federal food-assistance program SNAP. Its success offers a road map for what effective cash assistance can look like in this country, if we choose to build on it.
Many buyers assume homeownership is out of reach if they earn less than the area's median income - but that's not always true. From FHA and USDA loans to down payment assistance programs, there are real pathways to homeownership - even if you have little savings.
In the echoing expanse of a Sunnyvale food bank, Silicon Valley leaders scrambled across a warehouse floor, making a dull cacophony as they ran to different tables where they begged for work, bargained for groceries, sought housing, and bailed their loved ones out of jail. The desperate group of business leaders and public workers hadn't suddenly fallen on hard times, rather each was playing a role as part of a poverty simulation
Growing up outside Manchester, I remember watching my mum count out exact change at the supermarket checkout, keeping a running total in her head as she shopped. Meanwhile, my university roommate would just toss things in his trolley without a second thought. That's when it hit me: Financial security isn't just about having money. It's about the mental space that money creates.
The Cicero Institute, created by tech investor Joe Lonsdale, has spent the past few years promoting aggressive policies targeting encampments for the unhoused and pushing cities to move away from Housing First, the U.S.'s primary model for responding to chronic homelessness. Over the summer, HUD quietly adopted several of Cicero's key recommendations. And the result was widespread panic among the local agencies responsible for keeping people housed.
My friends and I are early 30s professionals living in one of America's most expensive cities and making middle-class incomes. None of us can afford to buy or save for a home here. We all rent, but we're not broke. We save for kids and retirement and illness, but a home isn't in the cards. But recently, we think we might have found an unconventional loophole.
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) needs an estimated $78 billion in capital repairs over the next 20 years across its more than 2,500 buildings, according to its 2023 Physical Needs Assessment. The hefty price tag-which increased by more than 70 percent since the previous assessment was conducted five years earlier, in 2017- "reflects deteriorating conditions of NYCHA's infrastructure following decades of federal disinvestment and significant price escalation in the construction sector over the last few years," housing authority officials said. Those costs include needed lead-based paint and asbestos abatement, upgrades to heating and hot water systems, plumbing, building facades and windows, and renovations to individual apartment interiors.