This archive tracks real progress on poverty alleviation — from policy wins and cash-transfer programs to community-led initiatives that are lifting incomes and expanding opportunity. Across 156 articles, you’ll find evidence that poverty is not intractable. These stories document what works, where it’s working, and who is making it happen.
Once the city takes over operations of the hotels at the end of this year, it intends to convert the units for “permanent supportive housing,” a form of affordable housing that provides subsidized rent and social services, health care, counseling and other supports. The city plans to partner with a nonprofit provider to offer services to residents in the two buildings.
The city is working with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys medical debt in bulk from hospitals and debt collectors for pennies on the dollar. The group targets the debt of people with low incomes or financial hardships and then forgives the amounts. Under the program, the city will spend $18 million over three years.
The Biden administration has now canceled more than $136 billion in student debt for over 3.7 million Americans, according to the White House. Around $1.7 billion of this new aid will go to 29,700 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans. In addition, 43,900 borrowers who have worked in public service for a decade or more will receive $3.2 billion in loan cancellation.
Consumption poverty in the United States has fallen dramatically since 1980, according to a major new study from the University of Notre Dame. Researchers found the poverty rate dropped 27 percentage points when measured by what families actually spend rather than what they report earning. The official income-based measure, by contrast, showed only a 1.5 percentage point decline over the same period. The findings suggest decades of policy investment in Social Security, tax credits, and safety net programs have produced far greater results than conventional statistics indicate.
With the opening of a new micro-community in northeast Denver, Mayor Mike Johnston estimated over 1,100 hundred people will have been housed before the end of 2023. “As of yesterday, this city succeeded, in under six months, in moving more than 1,000 people off of the streets and into housing,” he said.
The Biden administration has now cancelled an unprecedented $130 billion in student debt for more than 3.6 million Americans, offering much-needed relief to low-income families across the country.
This funding will also support thousands of local clean energy jobs, help achieve President Biden’s goal of lowering energy costs for all Americans, as well as help Puerto Rico achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. The first installations are slated to begin in Spring 2024.
Biden’s plans to cancel up to $400 billion in student debt for tens of millions of Americans were foiled by the Supreme Court. Still, Biden has managed to erase $127 billion in student debt so far for more than 3.5 million borrowers — more than any other president in history.
A White House official said that the new discharges bring the total approved debt cancellation to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million borrowers so far during Biden’s time in office.
The new vaccine developed by the International Vaccine Institute, Gotovax, and Valneva Sweden is low-cost, lasts longer than alternatives, and is easier and cheaper to deliver around the globe. Cholera kills more than 100,000 people worldwide every year.
