Fifty years ago, Michael Harrington's classic exposé The Other America shed light on widespread poverty in the United States and helped pave the way for reforms that have improved the lives of millions of Americans. But with millions of people still living below the poverty line even before the latest recession hit, inequality rising, and millions out of work, there is much more to do.
Join us for a national conference on U.S. poverty in the 21st Century. Leading researchers, practitioners, and journalists will assess how economic and policy trends are affecting poverty today, and will discuss promising new policies and strategies for lifting and keeping Americans out of poverty. We will probe what low wages, low job growth, demographic and cultural trends, and budget-cutting plans mean for Americans trying to move into the middle class.
Panel InformationPanel 1:
"What Have We Learned about Poverty in America in the past 50 years?" | Moderator:
Panelists:
| Bob Herbert, Demos
Angela Blackwell, PolicyLink
Peter Edelman, Georgetown University
Kathryn Edin, Harvard University
Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution
|
Panel 2: "The Economy and Poverty: Addressing the Labor Market" | Moderator:
Panelists:
| Ezra Klein, Washington Post
Eugene Steuerle, Urban Institute
Harry Holzer, Georgetown University
Sarita Gupta, Jobs with Justice
Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
|
Panel 3: "Poverty and the Austerity Debate" | Moderator:
Panelists:
| EJ Dionne, Washington Post
Robert Bixby, Concord Coalition
John Carr, US Conference of Bishops
Robert Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
|
Panel 4: "Work Supports and the Safety Net" | Moderator:
Panelists:
| Pam Fessler, NPR
Ambassador Eric Bost, Former USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services
Olivia Golden, Urban Institute
David Jones, Community Service Society
LaDonna Pavetti, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
|
Panel 5:
"Education and Skills Development: Early Interventions, K-12 and Postsecondary Education" | Moderator:
Panelists:
| Kavitha Cardoza, WAMU, D.C. NPR
Paul Osterman, MIT
Jane Hannaway, American Institutes for Research
Larry Aber, New York University
Wendell Hall, Institute for Higher Education Policy
|
|
| ![]() Demos and The American Prospect are working to put this crisis back in the public eye and on the policy agenda. Launching our activities is the Prospect's incredible (if we do say so ourselves) special issue on poverty. As Peter Edelman writes, it's "Worse than we thought, but we can solve this." Read more:
|
