Event at Demos: Understanding & Addressing Poverty in the 21st Century

Demos, a multi-issue policy, research and advocacy group, is hosting a day long conference this Tuesday to investigate the history and current state of anti-poverty policy in the U.S. From the event page:

Fifty years ago, Michael Harrington’s classic exposé The Other America shed light on widespread poverty in the United States and helped pave the way for reforms that have improved the lives of millions of Americans. But with millions of people still living below the poverty line even before the latest recession hit, inequality rising, and millions out of work, there is much more to do.

Join us for a national conference on U.S. poverty in the 21st Century. Leading researchers, practitioners, and journalists will assess how economic and policy trends are affecting poverty today, and will discuss promising new policies and strategies for lifting and keeping Americans out of poverty. We will probe what low wages, low job growth, demographic and cultural trends, and budget-cutting plans mean for Americans trying to move into the middle class.

If you can’t attend the event in person, the day’s panels will be live webcast. You can also use the hashtag #whypoverty to join the conversation on Twitter.

On a related note, this Wednesday, we’re hosting an event featuring Demos’ Vice President of Policy and Outreach, Heather McGhee, along with several other great panelists. Our event will be looking at some issues intricately tied to the state of poverty in the U.S. – the decline in Americans’ wealth, the lack of policy support for asset building for average families, and the challenges facing the working and middle classes as they weather the recession. Join us in person or on Twitter with the hashtag #jobsarenotenough on Wednesday morning.