Measuring Need
Creating effective policy for economic workforce expansion must include an accurate measure of who is in need.
Poverty is a concern not only for individuals and families, but for the economy as a whole. For more than 15 years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has partnered with policy leaders to confront the problem of child and family poverty. Casey’s Congressional call-to-action in this 2009 report recommends several changes that promote proven practices in creating economic opportunity for our most vulnerable families.
More than 37 million people, including 13.3 million children, lived below the official poverty level of $21,203 for a family of four at the time of this report. The success of Casey's policy agenda hinges on fostering a broad-based, common sense consensus across ideological and partisan lines.