(Feb. 2) – Even as substantive legislation in Washington remained largely bogged down by bitter partisan mistrust, some of the leading thinkers on opposite sides of the ideological divide — experts on the right who have advised Republican policy makers alongside left-leaning scholars who have Democrats’ ear — came together to champion an increase in the minimum wage.

(Feb. 2) – For years, I have been asking many people this question: What will happen to the tens of millions of people over 50 — a number growing every day — who have no money saved, no prospects of ever earning a decent wage again, and a great many of whom have as many as 30, 40 or 50 years left to live?

(Feb. 2) – The research shows that, among the well-off countries for which comprehensive evidence is available, the U.S. has the lowest overall ranking, a result that arises in part because the U.S. brings up the rear in safety net performance, income inequality and wealth inequality.

(Feb. 1) – Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, Seattle has the highest concentration of college students among its population below the poverty line. The data also show a marked difference between North and South Seattle.

(Jan. 31) – Racial inequality and economic inequality are not synonyms. That premise is the foundation behind an intellectual skirmish between The Atlantic columnist Ta-Nehisi Coates and other commentators about presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ stance (or lack thereof) on reparations for black people.

(Jan. 30) – In recent years, a number of promising tools have been developed to provide a more appropriate measure of who, and how many, are truly poor in America.

(Jan. 29) – A new study by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, where I serve as executive director, reveals that only 3 percent of students at our most selective colleges come from the 25 percent of families with the lowest incomes, while 72 percent come from the richest 25 percent of families.

(Jan. 29) – Men are more likely to work than women. This has been true in the United States for generations and for entrenched reasons that have to do with “family values” and workplace policies. It’s true because the culture says women should care for their children and because paying for child care is expensive. And it’s true because of discrimination.

(Jan. 29) – If social scientists and policy makers have learned anything about how to help the world’s poorest people, it’s not to trust our intuitions or anecdotal evidence about what kinds of antipoverty programs are effective. Rigorous randomized evaluations of policies, however, can show us what works and what doesn’t.

(Jan. 27) – According to the Children and Family Policy Center in Des Moines, 110,000 Iowa children now live in poverty. That’s an increase of 44 percent since 2000. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches is up 56 percent, and the percentage of Iowans receiving food assistance has more than tripled.