Restoration of an adequate minimum wage remains a critical ingredient in efforts to provide income security for poor and minority workers. The experience of recent years indicates that work does not provide economic security for many poor, Black, and Hispanic workers. National and minority unemployment rates have dropped during the economic…

Restoring the value of the minimum wage and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by family size could significantly reduce family poverty and "make work pay." Recent poverty policies have largely ignored those who work but still remain poor. The majority of these working poor are in their prime working years (aged 22 to 64),…

Poverty is an important antecedent factor affecting education. One of the most striking characteristics of rural poverty is the extent to which the rural poor work. About 65% of poor nonmetro families have at least one worker, compared to 54% of poor metro families. This report focuses on federal and state policy reforms that would assure poor…