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2	CAP’s Poverty Task Force After Katrina, Center for American Progress convened a Poverty Task Force—a diverse group of experts and leaders. Task Force Charge: ∙Make the case for why the nation should address poverty. ∙Make recommendations for what should be done about it.
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4	Poverty in America 1 in 8 Americans are poor -- 36.5 million people. Official measure – $20,614 for family of four. Most people believe cost of makings ends meet is twice that amount or more. 1 in 6 children are poor. 27 percent of Hispanic children, 1/3 of African-American children. 21 percent of children under 5 are poor 30 percent young Hispanic, 40 percent young African-American. 2/3 of poor children live with a parent who works all or part of year. 1 in 4 jobs do not pay enough to support a family of four at the poverty line.
5	Short and Long-Term Poverty All Americans 1 in 3 are poor at some point in a 13-year period. 5 percent are poor for at least 10 in 13 years. Children 35-36 percent ever poor in childhood. 6-8 percent poor 11 plus years. 23-28 percent African-American children.
6	Poverty and Wealth Wealth is more unequal than income and asset poverty is extensive: Top 1 percent has 19 percent of national income, bottom two quintiles have 12 percent. Top 1 percent has over one-third of nation’s net worth, bottom two quintiles have less than one percent. In 2001, 37 percent of American households were “asset-poor.”
7	Poverty in US high compared with other developed nations UNICEF report, using relative income measure, US ranks 24^th of 24 nations on child poverty. 22.7 percent, versus 11.3 percent average. US ranks 5^th on share of children in household with working parent.
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9	Why We Should Reduce Poverty: The Economic Argument Task Force commissioned Harry Holzer, Dianne Schanzenbach, Greg Duncan, Jens Ludwig, to examine economic costs of poverty. The Economic Costs of Poverty in the United States: Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor concludes: Costs associated with persistent childhood poverty total about $500 billion annually – equivalent of nearly 4 percent of GDP: Costs about evenly divided between lost adult productivity and wages, increased crime, and higher health expenditures.
10	A National Goal to Cut Poverty in Half Task Force recommends national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years, setting the nation on a course to end poverty in a generation. ∙ National goal would: express importance, establish clear standard against which to measure progress; promote accountability across governments and target for non-governmental efforts.
11	UK Experience ∙ In UK, having national goal of ending child poverty by 2020 has contributed to dramatic progress. From 1998-99 to 2005-06, child poverty has fallen by more than half in absolute terms, 18 percent on a relative measure. ∙
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13	U.S. Poverty and Child Poverty Rates, 1959-2006
14	U.S. has made progress before Between 1964-1973, poverty fell by 42%. Between 1993-2000, poverty fell by 25%. Key is to combine efforts to attain full employment with focused policies.
15	A Four-Pronged Strategy Promote decent work: People should work, and work should pay enough for workers and families to avoid poverty, meet basic needs, save for future. Provide opportunity for all: Children should grow up in conditions that maximize their life chances. Adults should have opportunities to connect to work, get more education, live in good neighborhoods, move up in the workforce. Ensure economic security: Americans should not fall into poverty when they cannot work or work is unavailable, unstable, or pays too little. Help people build wealth: People should have assets that protect them during unstable periods and permit them to climb the ladder of economic mobility. Guiding Principle of Progressive Universalism: Broad-based help, with the most help to those who need it most.
16	Task Force Recommendations Recommendations in twelve areas, including: minimum wage Earned Income Tax Credit/Child Tax Credit supporting unionization child care and early education housing and equitable development policies disadvantaged and disconnected youth higher education former prisoners and reentry policies unemployment insurance reforms to means-tested benefits addressing high costs of being poor promoting savings for low-income families and workers.
17	Measuring Impacts of Selected Recommendations CAP contracted with the Urban Institute to model the impacts of some of the Task Force recommendations: UI used Transfer Income Model, a microsimulation model that uses Census Bureau survey data and detailed information about program rules to simulate tax, benefit, and health programs. Modified definition of poverty, drawn from recommendations of National Academy of Sciences.
18	4 Modeled Recommendations Raise Minimum wage to 50 percent of average non-supervisory wage ($8.40 in 2006) Expand EITC for childless workers, extend it to 18- to 24-year olds who are not full-time students, increase it for families with 3+ children, and exclude half the earnings of the lower-earning spouse if doing so resulted in a larger EITC. Make Child Tax Credit fully refundable so that all low-income children would benefit. Increase Child Care Assistance, by making subsidies available to all working families with incomes below 200 percent of poverty, and making Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit larger and refundable.
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21	Cost of Implementing Task Force Recommendations: ~$90 billion $90 billion equals 0.8 percent of GDP. Annual costs to the U.S. associated with persistent childhood poverty alone total $500 billion—the equivalent of nearly 4 percent of the GDP. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are extended and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax is continued, top 1 percent of households will receive more than $1 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade
22	The Challenge for US Challenge is not that nothing works, or that we don’t know what to do. It’s about political will. Cannot just be federal, cannot just be government. State and local efforts can make an impact, and spur others. Critical time for moving ahead.
23	From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half