This documentary is from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and tells the stories of people who have struggled to overcome the effects of having a poor credit score or no credit history. Poor credit scores can affect the ability to obtain credit cards, loans, rent or lease a house or apartment, and obtain student loans. Around 70 million people have poor credit scores or no credit history, and experts estimate that a good credit rating will save the average borrower $250,000 in interest over a lifetime. The purpose of this documentary is to raise awareness on credit reports and scores to help policymakers and stakeholders support individuals who find themselves in such situations.

From the National Center for Children in Poverty, this report offers key information on child poverty and family hardship in the United States. Authors offer information on the nature of poverty, how poverty is measured in the United States, and statistics about child poverty. Nearly 30 million children in the United States experienced poverty in 2008, and 44 percent of children under the age of six live in low-income families.

From the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, this report provides national data on time spent together among married couples across a variety of income and education levels. Recent marriage experts have encouraged couples to spend time together to foster a healthy relationship, and due to the demands in meeting basic needs, poor couples may have less time for such relationship building activities. This study reveals that economically disadvantaged couples spend slightly more, rather than less, time together than nondisadvantaged ones. Authors conclude by offering implications for such findings.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities authored this report on the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for individual families. State-level data show that the Recovery Act has protected many families from poverty by raising incomes through its focus on tax credits, access to food stamps, and other measures. Researchers estimate that 6 million families were kept out of poverty by the Act in 2009.

Community college and vocational training programs provided education to more than 6.2 million students in 2006, which represents about 35 percent of all postsecondary education students. These programs are often important in reaching low-income youth and adults to increase their educational attainment and skills. This paper, from the Center for American Progress, offers information on how community college programs can better engage and reach low-income students and improve their skill development for improved job attainment.

In 2007, around one-third of the homeless population in the United States were members of families with children. This Fragile Families Research Brief highlights research on homelessness and at-risk families. Authors offer predictors of homelessness and protective factors, which include a strong support network of family and friends, access to public assistance programs, and having a resident father in the home.

Twenty-five percent of eligible families do not claim the EITC refund, and outreach to eligible families could help to claim nearly $6,000 in EITC refunds. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published a Money Talks Tax Credit Outreach Kit.

This article is from the Urban Institute, and authors review the role of assets in supporting families in times of crisis, such as job loss or health problems. Assets can be an important safety net to help maintain family wellbeing during such times. Researchers find that all families, regardless of income, experience material hardship after a negative event. However, asset-poor families experience more hardship than non-asset-poor families.

The Brookings Institution and the National League of Cities hosted this forum to discuss the current economic climate in relation to urban areas. National economic recovery depends on recovery in metropolitan areas, and the United States cannot begin to rebuild the economy without healthy regional economies. City fiscal concerns are beginning to materialize as many metropolitan areas are facing budget crises. This forum was designed for experts to provide an overview of potential budgetary issues and the outlook for the future.

From Public/Private Ventures, this resource was designed for workforce development organization managers to work with their frontline staff to encourage the use of data entry and management to ultimately improve performance and outcomes for their participants. The goal of this resource is to strengthen staff on program outcomes, teach staff to understand the importance of data, and to encourage problem solving among staff. This resource includes 5 activities for managers to lead with their staff and also provides worksheets to accompany each activity.