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Frosh seeks repeal of Md. license suspensions based on inability to pay
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh on Wednesday called for repealing the state’s authority to suspend the driver’s licenses of motorists who fail to pay a traffic fine or fee because they lack the funds, saying such a suspension criminalizes poverty and forces low-income drivers to choose between missing work or tempting arrest […]
Job growth is found to be no cure for a community’s poverty
A healthy dose of job growth has long been seen as a likely cure for poverty. But new research suggests that poor Americans are frequently left behind even when their cities or communities benefit from hiring booms. When such cities as Atlanta and Charlotte enjoyed a job surge in the 20 years that began in […]
Cass R. Sunstein: Trump’s promising welfare plan
As it turns out, it's a lot more interesting and subtle than either side has seen -- and potentially more constructive.
Report: One-third of Md. households live paycheck to paycheck
One in three Maryland residents struggles to make ends meet and has to make tough decisions about finances every day, United Way reported in a study released Monday. Some 750,000 people in the state are classified as Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE). Those are individuals and families that do not make enough money to have […]
Justice for all Baltimore
Now is not the time to cease-and-desist until modest and comfortable reforms are made. Getting back on the same path simply does not work for thousands of people in Baltimore. The national media spotlight will fade over the next several weeks and months. However, it is my hope is that the local landscape will have been altered for those seeking a real departure in the way people are treated, educa[...]
Poverty rate remains stuck at 15 percent
WASHINGTON — The nation’s poverty rate stood still at 15 percent last year, the sixth straight year that it has failed to improve. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 46.5 million Americans — or more than 1 in 7 — were living in poverty last year. That is not statistically different from the number of […]
Report says poor are moving to nation’s suburbs
LOS ANGELES — A new report shows more poor people have moved to the nation’s suburbs, outnumbering those in urban areas. The Brookings Institution study released Monday says those in poverty living in suburbs jumped 67 percent between 2000 and 2011. But suburbs still have a smaller percentage of their population living in poverty than […]
U.S. poverty rate unchanged; record numbers persist
WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau reports the number of Americans in poverty stood at 15 percent in 2011. About 46.2 million people, or nearly 1 in 6, were in poverty. That is not statistically different from the 15.1 percent who were impoverished in 2010. In all, the number of poor remained at record highs. The […]
Betsy Nelson: Hunger has dire consequences for us all
Maybe you’ve been too busy to get to the store this week, or you don’t feel like cooking and there are so many restaurants to choose from. This question has a quick answer for many, but for many other Marylanders, the question of where their next meal is coming from is consistent, stressful and doesn’t […]
Report: Racial gap in D.C.-area school suspensions
ROCKVILLE — A published report says black students in the D.C. area are suspended and expelled two to five times as often as white students, and the trend can be seen in both the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and inner city Washington. The Washington Post reports that its analysis found that in the suburbs alone, […]
Census: More kids living in poverty in D.C. area
WASHINGTON — New U.S. Census figures show the number of school-age children living in poverty jumped significantly in Washington and in Montgomery County during the recession. In the District of Columbia, the rate increased from 25.4 percent in 2007 to 30.5 percent in 2010. The Washington Examiner reports that the district is one of 73 […]
Maryland feels pinch as poverty rates rise
WASHINGTON — Experts say national poverty numbers released Tuesday morning are already out of date and could be getting worse, even as Maryland hit a poverty rate of 10.8 percent, the highest in nearly two decades, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau. “It is so disheartening because it feels to us like […]
