This brief offers concrete recommendations for how state and local policymakers, program administrators, and philanthropies can support the basic needs of low-income children and parents in the Great Lakes states. To support the recommendations, we describe the evidence on how key work supports(health insurance, nutrition assistance, the earned income tax credit, child care subsidies, and paid family leave) promote productivity, well-being, and economic mobility. We also examine the extent to which families in the Great Lakes region have access to these supports, noting variation among the states.

This brief is part of a series recommending policies that will build ladders of opportunity and economic mobility for young people in the six state Great Lakes region—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.