Author: Lisa Gieskes

Trying to win the war on poverty

Boston’s new anti-poverty program is producing positive results. It’s called Family Independence Initiative, or FII, a non-profit that started in San Francisco. “What we’re trying to do, is to say, ‘For the last 60 years, there’s been a war on poverty, and things have only gotten worse,’” Jesus Gerena, head of the Boston FII office, said. “So what can we do different and what did people do prior to be able to get people out, and help them to get out?”
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Doing Better for Families

Poverty in households with children is rising in nearly all OECD countries. Governments should ensure that family support policies protect the most vulnerable, according to the OECD’s first-ever report on family well-being.

Doing Better for Families says that families with children are more likely to be poor today than in previous decades, when the poorest in society were more likely to be pensioners.

OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families