Last week, the Census Bureau released findings from the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the official federal poverty measure, covered in KYA’s earlier releases, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) is designed to act as a more comprehensive gauge of poverty. The official federal poverty measure has been based on an old assumption about a family’s basic needs which no longer holds true in today’s society – that the average family spends one-third of its income [...]

Families in Kentucky are worse off based on four of five key child care assistance policies, according to a report released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Child care, which helps children, families, and communities prosper, comes at a high price, and many families are relying on child care assistance programs during our tough economic times. But, Kentucky’s families are vulnerable to losing ground due to federal budget cuts and the end of [...]

Over the last decade, the number of uninsured Kentuckians has increased by 3.1 percentage points, which mirrors trends in other states. According to the new Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), roughly 1 in 6, or 17.5 percent of people in Kentucky had no health coverage in 2009 and 2010. Across the country, 18.3 percent of the population lacked health coverage in 2009-2010. In contrast, government investment in health care through programs like Medicaid and [...]

I feel as though I’ve become a bit of a broken record lately – at least when it comes to our monthly Kentucky Economic Watch. The recession has ended, but Kentuckians are still suffering. SNAP is up, unemployment is down, and state revenues are improving. This has been the case since May, and it all continued to play out in July. This time, I’d like to take a closer look at the mechanics of the [...]