1. Poverty in America - And What to Do About It Robert Doar, Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies October 2015 | Georgia Legislative Forum

2. Post-welfare reform progress has reversed. 2

3. We see the same trend in child poverty. 3

4. Race gaps in the poverty rate persist. 4

5. The economic position of African- Americans is deteriorating. 5

6. Why are we going in the wrong direction? 6

7. Labor force participation is collapsing. 7

8. The nonmarital birth rate is high. 8 Nonmarital birth rate overall: 40.6% Nonmarital birth rate for blacks: 71% Nonmarital birth rate for whites: 35.8% Nonmarital birth rate for Hispanics: 53.2%

9. What works in helping the poor? Work expectations for able-bodied adults receiving assistance; Poverty Rate for those who worked full-time, year round in 2014: 3.0%. Government assistance that makes work pay; Two-parent families that better prepare children for life; Poverty Rate for single-parent families is 5X that of married-couple families (30.6% and 6.2%). More effective programs for struggling men; Pro-growth policies that generate jobs. The combination of welfare reform and strong economic growth lowered the poverty rate by 25% from 1993 to 2000. 9

10. Want to learn more? Sign up for our AEI on Poverty newsletter! Follow Robert Doar on Twitter: @RobertDoar For questions or comments email: Robert.doar@aei.orgRobert.doar@aei.org 10