Half in Ten Campaign Releases New Report: Resetting the Poverty Debate: State of the States 2013

As part of its annual reporting on data to track progress in its goal to cut poverty in half in 10 years, Half in Ten released a new report yesterday, “Resetting the Poverty Debate: State of the States 2013,” examining 14 indicators of economic security and opportunity at a state-by-state level.

The new Half in Ten report includes state-by-state fact sheets for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It shows the best and worst indicators of each state and where the state ranks across the 14 indicators, which includes unemployment insurance overage rates, food insecurity rates, and lack of health insurance coverage. For example, Alaska is the best state for providing unemployment insurance, with 49 percent of unemployed workers covered, and Texas is the worst state for providing health insurance coverage, with 38.5 percent of low-income people uninsured.

“Resetting the Poverty Debate” also highlights state policies that coincide with data trends demonstrating how federal budget cuts to social programs have had an effect on communities across the country, and emphasize the need for local policies to improve access to federally funded assistance programs for low-income families.

The Half in Ten Education Fund web site was also launched yesterday, featuring an interactive map that can be used to compare indicators data across all of Half in Ten’s annual reports by state or by zip code to view congressional districts.

To learn more, “like” the Half in Ten Facebook page, follow @HalfinTen and join the conversation on Twitter via #StateofPoverty and #TalkPoverty.