Families and individuals working in low-wage jobs make too little income to meet the minimum standards of living in their community. The Living Wage Calculator was developed to help individuals, communities, employers, and others estimate the local wage rate that a full-time worker requires to cover the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live. Users can review the living wage in any county, metro area, or state for households with up to two working adults and zero to three children.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is hosting a webinar on January 21, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET, which will address the economic stability of service members, Veterans, and their families (SMVF). This webinar will explore critical areas such as employment opportunities, income supports, SSI/SSDI, Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) for Veterans, and housing solutions, providing valuable information and resources to support maintaining or achieving economic stability among the SMVF community.

A growing number of local governments and nonprofit organizations across the United States are experimenting with guaranteed income programs, often with the goal of supporting low-income families and individuals. The results of many of these newer efforts are still being measured and assessed, but there are earlier programs that can provide insights into long-term effects. The Institute for Research on Poverty hosted a webinar in December 2024 to share research on cash transfer programs begun or conducted in previous decades, including Native American tribal casino dividends, the Mincome project, and the Alaska Dividend.

The Resilient Families Hub is a new initiative of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and exists to understand the role of direct cash transfers in advancing economic stability and mobility in the United States. This initiative works with federal, state, and local governments and community-based organizations to provide subject matter expertise, research findings and evidence-based policies and practices around the targeted use of direct cash. Resilient Families’ publications and learning series will be published on this OFA webpage as they become available.

To better understand families’ circumstances, their resources, and the costs of fully participating in the society and economy, the Urban Institute developed a “true cost of economic security” measure. They designed the measure with accuracy and replicability in mind, using high-quality publicly accessible data collected regularly to capture variations across states and all areas to explore differences by age, family structure, and race and ethnicity. The Urban Institute is hosting a webinar on November 20, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. ET to discuss their new measure and how to leverage insights from this research to improve American families’ well-being.

The goal of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) Economic Justice and
Domestic Violence Advisory Council is a long-term, in-depth collaboration of national experts in the domestic violence (DV) field working to advance survivors’ economic empowerment and financial well-being. NNEDV virtually gathered those working at the intersection of DV and economic justice to identify gaps and strategize ways to expand awareness and
solutions through recommendations. These recommendations include:

1. Expanding funding for culturally specific programs;
2. Increasing survivors’ access to flexible funds;
3. Employers should have a workplace policy specifically addressing DV;
4. DV programs and advocates should receive training in intimate partner violence and workplace safety; and
5. Reformations to public policies.

Nearly every aspect of modern life relies on the ability to receive funds, make payments, and access monetary resources when needed. But appropriate and affordable financial services are often not available to low-income and otherwise marginalized communities and individuals. The Institute for Research on Poverty is hosting a webinar on October 30, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET, where presenters will share research findings related to the inequitable landscape of financial services as well as examples of practice and policy solutions.

In the U.S., 1 in 10 young adults experience homelessness each year, with disproportionate impacts on American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, multiracial, and Hispanic youth and youth who have been involved with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Current housing solutions for youth homelessness often lack flexibility or are not readily available, leaving many young adults waiting long periods of time without stable housing. However, the Cash Plus Model offers a promising alternative — pairing direct cash transfers with youth-driven supportive services to empower young adults in securing safe, stable housing. Chapin Hall has developed two briefs: one describing the Cash Plus Model and the second evaluating the Cash Plus Model implementation in New York City and San Francisco.

Traffickers exploit individuals through economic coercion or abuse. Many individuals who experience trafficking are not allowed to decide when or how to earn money, keep their earnings, or control their personal finances. A provision in the Fair Credit Reporting Act serves as an important tool for helping people who have experienced trafficking; the Debt Bondage Repair Act (DBRA) allows for removal of adverse credit information resulting from someone’s trafficking experience. This Office on Trafficking in Persons resource highlights DBRA success stories where individuals in California and Arizona were able to remove adverse credit information that accumulated during their trafficking experience.

Despite the significance of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to the nation’s social safety net, advocates argue it is in desperate need of modernization. Many of its program rules have not been updated in four decades, despite dramatic changes in the country’s attitudes about and policies meant to support full community inclusion of people with disabilities. Applying for SSI can be a lengthy and complicated process, program eligibility and payment requirements can be confusing, and asset limits discourage saving for life’s unexpected events. Mathematica and the National Academy of Social Insurance will host a virtual event on October 8, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. ET to examine the state of SSI 50 years after the program's first payment and to discuss evidence-based reforms that could strengthen the program for the next 50 years.