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Policymakers should increase food benefits and expand eligibility for food programs.
Policymakers and the private sector should work to eliminate barriers to women’s employment. They should ensure equality in employment opportunities, pay, and benefits.
Federal, state, and local laws should strengthen protections for workers in terms of wages, hours, safety, and other features of employment.
Workers should be eligible for full workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits regardless of age and other sources of income, such as pensions.
Policymakers should explore new, more consumer-centered systems for providing low-income assistance.
Congress and state legislatures should ensure that all lawfully present non-citizen residents who qualify for essential low-income benefits have access to them.
Asset limits for public-benefit programs should be increased to ensure that they do not discourage saving. These limits should then be indexed to keep up with inflation.
The federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit level should be increased to bring beneficiaries up to the poverty level. States should supplement those benefit payments.
Public and private employers should offer phased-retirement programs and retiree reemployment programs that encourage employees to stay in the workforce beyond the time they