Economic Security

More Evidence: Minimum Wage Increases Raise Pay Without Decreasing Employment

July 23, 2019

Growing evidence shows that minimum wage increases help to increase take-home pay and reduce poverty without reducing employment. That’s why Arkansans overwhelmingly voted to raise the minimum wage in 2018. As we wrote last week, the CBO confirmed the...

New CBO Report Shows Big Reductions in Family Poverty

July 15, 2019

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report analyzing the economic impact of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 in 2025. They find that a federal $15 minimum wage would boost worker pay, increase the income of...

AACF Comments on Changes to the Poverty Line

June 28, 2019

In May, the federal government asked for comments on changing how it calculates the poverty line (read our previous blog post on this topic). The federal poverty line represents the smallest amount of money that a family will need...

The Kids Are… Doing Better, Still Not Great

June 18, 2019

Note: This blog is first in a series of posts covering the findings in the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS COUNT® Data Book. Read our press release about the Data Book here. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS...

Legitimate Concerns Over Poverty Measure, But Proposed Changes Miss the Mark

June 13, 2019

There are efforts taking place in Washington that would change the way the federal poverty level is calculated, and the result would be to reduce or take away necessary assistance (food, health care, etc.) from millions of people living...

Recent Publications

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An Arkansas EITC Would Lead to Healthier Arkansans

July 25, 2019

by John Cook, Ph.D., M.A.Ed., Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, Children’s HealthWatch; Richard Sheward, MPP, Deputy Director of Innovative Partnerships, Children’s HealthWatch; Bruno Showers, Senior Policy Analyst, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families; and Eduardo Ochoa, Jr., MD, Principal Investigator,...

Investing in Arkansans with a Working Families Tax Credit

January 10, 2019

Around 300,000 working Arkansans, many of whom are parents with children at home, would qualify for a Working Families Tax Credit, and almost $40 million would return to Arkansas’s economy.

Child Poverty in Northwest Arkansas: Policy Solutions to Build a Stronger Community

September 13, 2018

Statewide, many people think of Northwest Arkansas as a place where poverty is rare, where families and communities thrive in a booming economy. But as our updated Northwest Arkansas Child Poverty report explains, thousands of families struggle to get...

Infographic: A How-To for Reporting Work Activities and Exemptions in Arkansas Works

July 10, 2018

In June 2018, Arkansas became the first state to officially implement a requirement to work in a Medicaid expansion program – known here in Arkansas as Arkansas Works. Some Arkansas Works enrollees began reporting work activities or exemptions in June....

Steps to Health and Wealth (infographic)

June 4, 2018

The foundation for health and wealth starts at birth and influences success at every stage of life. Learn more in our latest infographic or in its parent publication “Health and Wealth in Arkansas.”

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