poverty

October 18, 2013 - The special election for Louisiana's impoverished 5th congressional district is set for Oct. 19, and Democrats are trying to turn it into the Democratic district it appears to be on paper -- and save the Affordable Care Act from continued assault from the right.

October 17, 2013 - A new report from the Southern Education Foundation finds that low income students constitute a growing majority of public school children in 17 states, most of them in the South. At the same time, the South lags far behind other regions in per-pupil spending.

October 11, 2013 - With the federal government shutdown approaching its second week, many Americans are suffering the effects -- but they're especially severe for people already living in poverty.

September 26, 2013 - A record number of Americans receive food stamps, with residents of Southern states especially dependent on the anti-hunger program. So why are Southern politicians who in turn depend on the political support of hungry constituents so eager to cut the program's funding?

September 18, 2013 - Attorneys with UNC's Center for Civil Rights kept seeing the same injustices -- environmental, educational, economic -- crop up in minority communities where they work across the state. They decided to take a systematic look at the problem and have produced a report and interactive map that illuminate the social and economic disparities created and perpetuated by segregation.

September 6, 2013 - A flawed Cato study claims that "welfare" pays better than work.

August 30, 2013 - Fast food workers in cities across the South and elsewhere in the U.S. went on strike this week as part of a campaign to raise wages. We take a by-the-numbers look at why they're taking action.