The data revolution is transforming how executives manage operations and businesses deliver goods and services. Yet when it comes to helping people escape poverty, the revolution has barely begun...
The US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty’s definition of mobility comprises three core principles: economic success, power and autonomy, and being valued in community. This paper curates and describes selected measures of these three principles.
Narratives are stories we rely on to make sense of the world. In America today, inaccurate narratives about poverty too often get in the way of meaningful change. More accurate narratives about poverty and the true nature of upward mobility will lead to more...
All children should have the opportunity to have healthy childhoods, do well in school, and succeed as adults. One effective tool for helping children in poverty succeed is the federal child tax credit (CTC), which provides many working parents an annual tax credit...
To achieve mobility from poverty, young people must have resources to develop their identities and avoid unintended pregnancy. We propose expanding programs that help young people find their “why” —their personal reasons for making thoughtful decisions during...
Child support is a vital tool for providing income to children living in poverty. For families living in poverty who receive child support, it makes up 41 percent of their income on average. But the system can be punitive, requiring noncustodial parents—typically...
We can use emerging scientific findings on the ways poverty affects behavior and decisionmaking to help people living in poverty achieve dramatic gains in mobility. We can revolutionize human services delivery by moving away from strategies that seek modest gains...
What might justice look like if the people most affected by crime and poverty had a much greater say in what safety means to them and how their government delivers it?
Having access to a mainstream bank account, credit, and other financial services is vital to upward mobility. Safe, affordable financial services facilitate saving, homeownership, and small business ownership, and thus financial stability. That stability gives people room to plan for the future...
The ability to afford a decent stable home is a primary concern for families seeking to achieve mobility from poverty. This memo describes the scope of the housing affordability crisis, the market challenges that impede affordability, current policy responses, and options for improving...
The effects of poverty in early childhood can last a lifetime. Home visiting programs can help. In home visiting programs, a nurse or other specialist offers parents support and coaching in their homes and connects them to other needed services. Evidence shows that...
The United States is facing a massive shortage of affordable rental housing with worrying effects on millions of children. Rental vouchers can help. ...
Every family should be able to live in a neighborhood that supports well-being and boosts children’s chances to thrive and succeed. Yet today too many low-income families and families of color live in neighborhoods that lack resources and instead amplify the effects of growing up poor.
We...
Community colleges can be a springboard to a better life. They serve underrepresented, low-income, and nontraditional students; have a wide range of practical offerings; and offer lower tuition. They are uniquely situated to change the economic trajectory of...
New technologies and alternative work arrangements are transforming the American labor market. Can the country leverage the ingenuity that created the dynamic 21st-century workplace to improve pathways to upward mobility? We identify six ideas that can improve the...
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and staffed and supported by the Urban Institute, the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty was tasked with answering one big, bold question: What Would It Take to Dramatically Increase Mobility from Poverty? Specifically, the Partnership was...
Beginning with the landmark Gautreaux housing desegregation lawsuit, local programs have used federally funded housing vouchers to help low-income families move from neighborhoods of poverty and distress to neighborhoods that offer greater opportunity. The latest evidence finds that such “moves...
Beginning with the settlement houses of the late 19th century, practitioners and policymakers have worked to tackle the challenges of poverty in place through an evolving set of strategies. Since then, federal, state, and local governments; philanthropy; charitable organizations; and research...
Predictors of persistently poor children's economic success.
Substantially increasing mobility from poverty means different things to different people. Some goals for reducing poverty and increasing mobility may sound ambitious but fall well within historical experience, while others may require levels of economic growth or redistribution that are beyond...