(July 20) – It would be foolish to expect an addict — straight out of jail, treatment, or both — to find a sober night’s sleep under a bridge, said Jared Owen, a man in recovery. With not enough housing options in the state, Owens said recovering addicts are frequently left with the forlorn question, “What now?”

(July 18) – In April, a safety net unraveled for hundreds of thousands of Americans when a federal provision linking food assistance to a work requirement eliminated many people’s access to supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP) benefits. Since the provision came into effect on April 1, SNAP participation rates have dramatically decreased.

(July 18) – Study after study has identified being a racial minority and living below the poverty line as key factors that can contribute to higher mortality for many reasons. While the causes can vary — including diet, limited access to quality health care, smoking status and being more vulnerable to violent crime — most of the research has looked at race and poverty together. But in a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, scientists at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) decided to look at the effects of race and economic status on mortality separately.

(July 17) – It was a sparkling scene of urban renaissance: Children scampered through the fountain in Public Square, spruced up at a cost of $50 million just in time for the Republican convention here. Electricians installed security cameras on the redesigned plaza as carpenters put the finishing touches on a new cafe. Twenty minutes south, in a neighborhood called Slavic Village, Robert Smith and David Rajecki, both 58-year-old disabled factory workers, surveyed a vastly different scene. Historically a bustling center of Czech and Polish immigrant life, Slavic Village was sliding into decay even before it was devastated by the foreclosure crisis.

(July 15) – Behavioral science has brought renewed attention to the problem of poverty from policymakers on both sides of the aisle. Research shows that poverty is a significant influence on virtually every common and costly psychological and behavioral problem.

(July 14) – Most of the world’s richest countries failed to earn top marks on their progress toward reaching the United Nations’ goals to end poverty and inequality, with only Germany and the United Kingdom in the top ten, according to a list published on Thursday. The United States ranked 25th on the index of 149 countries.

(July 13) – Actress Shailene Woodley is helping lawmakers and digital retailers push the Obama administration to allow people to use food stamps online. Woodley attended a congressional briefing hosted by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), along with Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), on Tuesday to help make the case.

(July 12) – Wage stagnation. Income inequality. A lack of quality education. Insufficient training and skills development. Issues like these have led approximately two-thirds of Americans to believe that the next generation will be worse off than the last.

(July 12) – In some households, poverty is passed down from generation to generation, almost like an inherited trait. Teri Williams, president of OneUnited Bank, sees it happen among the lower-income Boston residents the bank serves.

(July 11) – The people paid to watch America’s children tend to live in poverty. Nearly half receive some kind of government assistance: food stamps, welfare checks, Medicaid. Their median hourly wage is $9.77 — about $3 below the average janitor’s.