Maybe The Government Can Work To Improve People's Lives?
Maybe!!!
Hi, I’d usually say I hope this newsletter doesn’t find you since we’re right before the holiday, but my team at New America’s Better Life Lab is hosting an event next week, so I do want this edition of Salt + Yams to find you. And I want it to find other people, so forward this to your listservs, group chats, parents, grandparents, nieces, nephews, uncles, and aunts. You can send it to your vet or nail tech. Whoever! (TBH, you should always forward my newsletter! I’m tryna build here!)
Event Details
📅 Date: December 3, 2024
🕒 Time: 12 PM - 1:30 PM EST
📍 Location: Online
Join New America’s Better Life Lab for a virtual discussion on the results of our forthcoming two-year qualitative study on what families say they need to thrive and the future of family economic security and well-being.
When the global COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, shuttering businesses and schools and throwing more than 20 million Americans out of work, Congress passed a series of relief packages totaling $5.2 trillion and made it easier for people to apply for benefits. As a result, families’ economic well-being actually improved. More people were able to stay in their homes, had enough to eat, and had access to life-saving health care. Child poverty rates dropped to historic lows.
Now that that unprecedented federal aid is over, poverty, hunger, evictions, and the rate of those without health insurance are on the rise. Wages remain low.
We’ll hear directly from families who participated in the study about their experiences and perspectives. We’ll also explore questions such as: What lessons should policymakers draw to build better supportive systems for families and an economy that works for all people? And will a new Trump administration, which has in the past sought to slash funding for anti-poverty programs and is threatening to do so again, heed them?
Happy Holiday’s, y’all! I’ll be back early next month with some fun newsletter news and the next round of Living A Better Life Resources. In the meantime, check out the previous editions.
