Evidence has emerged that the number of families living with little to no income has climbed over the past two decades. While the 1996 welfare reform act is considered a historic achievement for incentivizing work and reducing the number of people receiving government assistance, people currently unable to find work are left with virtually no safety net.

During this panel discussion, Kathryn Edin, sociologist and coauthor of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, explained why assistance programs are essentially nonexistent for many who need them most. Her work provides context for recent findings from the Urban Institute on poverty-coping mechanisms. Urban scholar Susan Popkin discussed her work on youth in distressed communities. 

PROGRAM

Panelists:

• Kathryn Edin, Bloomberg distinguished professor, Johns Hopkins University
• Adrianne Todman, executive director, District of Columbia Housing Authority
• Susan J. Popkin, senior fellow, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, Urban Institute
• Gregory Acs, director, Income and Benefits Policy Center, Urban Institute

 Moderator: 

• Margery Austin Turner, senior vice president for programming planning and management, Urban Institute 

event materials

• Event Agenda
• Speaker Biographies
• Serving HOST Families: The Challenges to Overcome