If we don’t talk about economic justice, we are advancing an emaciated view of Christian political engagement.
Tag Archives: Poverty
In El Salvador, Bitcoin Is Nothing More Than Authoritarian Propaganda
The country’s cryptocurrency paradise is a mirage.
In South Asia, Climate Change Worries Take On Fresh Urgency
Hundreds of millions of humanity’s most vulnerable live in South Asia, where rising temperatures make it more difficult to address poverty, food security and health challenges.
Summer Camp for All
It’s hard to imagine a more ideal escape for young people living through an extraordinary time of grief, loneliness and upheaval.
At Davos, a Referendum on the World Economic Forum
Many values espoused by the World Economic Forum — globalization, liberalism, free market capitalism, representative democracy — are under attack.
The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations to Enslavers
In 1791, enslaved Haitians ousted the French and founded a nation. But France made generations of Haitians pay for their freedom. How much it cost them was a mystery, until now.
Help With Medicare Costs: What You Need to Know
Low-income Americans on Medicare can get assistance paying their premiums and other expenses. Several states have allowed more people to qualify.
In Afghanistan, Collecting Scrap Metal Is a Risky Pursuit
Discarded metal left by decades of conflict has become a livelihood for impoverished Afghans. But many have been killed by unexploded munitions.
If Roe Is Overturned, Where Should the Pro-Life Movement Go Next?
“Now is not the time to brag or gloat or celebrate. Now is the time to get to work.”
We Pay to Keep the Old Out of Poverty. Why Won’t We Do the Same for the Young?
Child poverty is a not a problem without a solution.
On Homelessness, New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams Needs a Little Religion
People experiencing homelessness are our neighbors.
To Help Children, Democrats are Going to Have to Reach Across the Aisle
A bipartisan Child Tax Credit expansion may actually be within reach.
A One-Woman Rescue Squad for Homeless Students in Rural Texas
The work of Norma Mercado, a Texas school system’s point person for dealing with homeless young people, is benefiting from a big but temporary surge in federal funding.
Study: Reducing poverty and climate goals aren’t at odds

Enlarge / Eliminating extreme poverty won’t necessarily boost emissions as much as people fear. (credit: Soltan Frédéric)
The United Nations’ first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aims to eradicate poverty around the world. If implemented, however, it might see people consume more—drive more often, buy more products—and, thus, produce more carbon emissions, fueling climate change. “With more money to spend, and therefore more consumption, there is usually a higher carbon footprint,” Benedikt Bruckner, a master’s student of energy and environmental sciences at the University of Groningen, told Ars.
But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way, according to a new study put out by Bruckner, other researchers out of Groningen, and colleagues in the United States and China.
Published in Nature, the research makes use of high-level data about consumption patterns to show that reaching SDG 1—which shoots to move every person out of extreme poverty (under $1.90 per day) and half of everyone above the poverty lines of their respective countries—won’t excessively fuel climate change.
Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Why Do We Make the Poor Run an Obstacle Course to Get Help?
It doesn’t have to be this hard.
An MTA Discount Program So Exclusive, Barely Anyone in NYC Qualifies
A city program gives 260,000 low-income New Yorkers half-price transit rides. Advocates and transit leaders are calling on the mayor to expand his investment.
Food Prices Hit Two-Decade High, Threatening the World’s Poor
The prices have climbed to their highest level since 2011, according to a U.N. index. It could cause social unrest “on a widespread scale,” one expert said.
Migrant Worker’s Tale of Inequality Grips China, Then Is Erased
A man with Covid revealed a parallel universe to well-off Chinese and became a symbol of inequality. The government found him inconvenient to its narrative.
Cash Aid to Poor Mothers Improves Brain Function in Babies, Study Finds
The research could have policy implications as President Biden pushes to revive his proposal to expand the child tax credit.
The Systemic Realities Created by Legal Abortion
Thoughts on the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
How $1,000 a Month in Guaranteed Income Is Helping N.Y.C Mothers
A new, privately funded program offers families in poverty a steady stream of cash.
Child Tax Credit’s Extra Help Ends, Just as Covid Surges Anew
A pandemic benefit that many progressives hoped to make permanent has lapsed in a congressional standoff. Researchers say it spared many from poverty.
Why We Feast During the Holidays
There’s a widespread need to reconnect to all the things that make life worth living, and what better moment than now?
Welcome to the Charles Dickens Luxury Apartments
Want to understand London’s economic transformation? Have a look around the condo conversion of the workhouse that inspired “Oliver Twist.”
It’s Been a Hard Year. These 3 Charities Could Use Your Help.
The world needs an outpouring of generosity.
How Tech is Helping Poor People Get Government Aid
Even as the government expanded aid programs, many people faced barriers to using them. That problem is now being addressed with apps and streamlined websites.
Social Welfare Can Break the Intergenerational Cycle of Poverty
Intervening in children’s lives early can help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Dear People of 2021: What Can We Learn From Hindsight?
For the first series from the Headway initiative, we followed up on forecasts from decades past to ask what the passage of time has revealed.
Extreme Poverty Has Been Sharply Cut. What Has Changed?
The U.N. pledged to cut by half the proportion of people living in the worst conditions around the world.
The Humble Beginnings of Today’s Culinary Delicacies
Many of our most revered dishes were perfected by those in need, then co-opted by the affluent. Is that populism at play, or just the abuse of power?
Where Are Young People Most Optimistic? In Poorer Nations.
More than half of Americans, young and old, say children today will be less economically successful than their parents, a global survey shows.
Reagan’s Long Shadow
Social welfare has been a boogeyman of the right and left since Reagan.
The ‘Benefits Cliff’ Discourages People From Making More Money
When low-income workers increase their paychecks, they can end up poorer.
Pressure Grows on G20 Nations to Get Covid Vaccines to the Poor
The world’s leaders are focusing on preventing future pandemics, but experts say rich nations are not doing enough to help the poor survive the current one.
Higher Food Prices Hit the Poor and Those Who Help Them
Many households are being forced to adjust their shopping lists or seek assistance. But food banks, too, are feeling the pinch.
Debate Looms Over I.M.F.: Should It Do More Than Put Out Fires?
As the International Monetary Fund gets set for its annual meeting, economists ask if it’s time to update its mandate as the world’s financial crisis responder.
On Concerns About Debt, and Disregard for Climate and Child Poverty
Why don’t those who used to obsess over debt seem to care about the future?
Book Review: ‘Invisible Child,’ by Andrea Elliott
“Invisible Child,” by the New York Times reporter Andrea Elliott, expands on her much-admired 2013 series, following the lives of a New York City child and her family, as they strive to stay together and make ends meet.
Should the U.S. Expand the Social Safety Net?
Readers disagree with a guest essay that argued that America cannot afford the $3.5 trillion bill now before Congress.
Saving the Artwork of the South: Deep Investment, and a Drone
From Birmingham to Gee’s Bend, the Souls Grown Deep Foundation is directly investing in Alabama communities where artists and quilters live, work — and struggle.
Why the Child Tax Credit Should Be Permanent
Spending more on children is a very good idea.
Our Foster Care System Is Fundamentally Broken
Group homes have to go before more youths are harmed.
The U.S. Is Winning the War on Poverty
Government programs have steadily reduced the share of people in poverty
Poverty in the U.S. Declined Thanks to Government Aid, Census Report Shows
Taking into account government benefits, a smaller share of the population was living in poverty in 2020 even as the pandemic eliminated millions of jobs.
Writing for the Poor
A paper’s columnists should be like an orchestra, each playing a different instrument. I decided that I was going to play the banjo.
Health Care in Afghanistan Is Crumbling, Aid Groups Warn
After the Taliban’s takeover, international donors withdrew funds that hospitals and clinics depended on. Now a fourth wave of Covid looms.
Why $46 Billion Couldn’t Prevent an Eviction Crisis
As national eviction protections lapse, much of the rental assistance sits unspent. Aid was slowed by red tape, resistance from landlords and the difficulty of navigating an informal market. Does a lease on a napkin qualify?
Why the Taliban Desperately Need Cash to Run Afghanistan
The group has long tapped underground banks and opium to fund Afghanistan’s insurgency. Fixing the nation’s problems will require a lot more than that.
Why an East Harlem Street Is 31 Degrees Hotter Than Central Park West
If you want to map inequality in New York, you can just count trees.
Bangladesh Reopens Economy Despite Covid Third Wave
The government is lifting a lockdown despite warnings from health experts that the outbreak could worsen.