Arkansas Needs Significantly More Fiscal Support to Address the Severe Health and Economic Harms of COVID-19

States are nearing shortfalls that could be the largest on record – totaling over $500 billion in just over a fiscal year While federal policymakers have provided a substantial amount […]
COVID-19 Unemployment Rate Already Rivals the Great Recession

The number of new weekly claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending in March 28th was about 6.65 million, shattering the previous week’s already record-high number of 3.3 million. […]
Help Is On The Way for Unemployed, But More Reform Needed in Arkansas

As record-breaking numbers of Americans file for unemployment, Congressional action will bring relief to struggling families during this time of national emergency. Arkansas must also act quickly to ensure that […]
Coronavirus and the Prospect of an Economic Recession

The economy has undergone a record-long expansion over the past decade, and that has lead some economists to worry that a recession is on the horizon. The coronavirus pandemic may […]
Democrats Should Stop Trying to Cut Taxes for the Wealthy and Invest in Kids Instead

The Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means committee, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) has filed legislation that would repeal the cap on the federal deduction for state and local […]
Honoring the Elaine Massacre Victims with Legislative Action

As we commemorate the anniversary of the Elaine Race Massacre today, it’s important to remember that Arkansas still hasn’t adequately addressed the grievance that slain sharecroppers sought to correct 100 […]
New Census Data Show Worrying Increase in Child Poverty, Uninsured Rates in Arkansas

Arkansans wages and poverty levels remained flat in 2018, despite the continued economic growth and historically low unemployment rates of recent years, according to new Census data. Conditions were even worse […]
Arkansas Shows Improvement in Number of Children Living in Concentrated Poverty

Fewer of Arkansas’s children are living in communities of concentrated poverty, according to “Children Living in High Poverty, Low-Opportunity Neighborhoods,” a new KIDS COUNT® data snapshot released today by the Annie E. […]
AACF Comments on Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families’ mission is to ensure that all children and families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy lives and reach their full potential. We […]
Survey Says: More People Without Insurance; Employment and Incomes Rising, If Unevenly

Today the U.S. Census Bureau published its annual release of national-level statistics on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. As we wrote in our previous blog post, these statistics are […]