100 Million and Counting: A Portrait of Economic Insecurity in the United States

Abbie Langston

Since 2000, the population living at or below 200 percent of poverty has grown more than twice as fast as the nation’s population overall. This report from PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California (PERE) provides a deeper look into this data surrounding economic insecurity, analyzing trends over time and who is most affected. The data show that while people of color make up 38 percent of the total US population, they comprise more than half of the economically insecure. The report calls for policies that address systemic barriers to economic advancement, recommending strategies that raise wages, such as removing barriers to employment and expanding workplace protections, as well as strategies that expand access to wealth building opportunities. 

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