In its new study of car insurance rates, the Consumer Federation of America reports that lower-income people pay higher …
Poor
Why Aren’t More Families Signing Up for Cheap Internet Service?
A little over a year ago, Comcast introduced Internet Essentials, in which low-income families are eligible for home Internet service for just $9.95 per month. While roughly 2.3 million families in the U.S. qualify for Internet …
Food Stamps: More Benefit to Big Food Than to the Poor?
The federal government is spending millions to encourage more Americans to apply for food stamps, or rather the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which replaced food stamps. Ads paid for with tax dollars are …
How Cash Keeps Poor People Poor
Want to help the poor? Start by taking money out of their hands. More specifically, cash — coins and paper bills are the silent enemy of the poor, with costs often out of proportion with their day-to-day convenience.
Today’s Value Shopper Heads to Amazon, Not Walmart
Walmart became the world’s largest retailer by attracting consumers who were most interested in low prices, not a highfalutin, top-notch shopping experience. So it’s unsurprising that Walmart has received poor ratings in studies …
5 Hypothetical New Taxes That Americans Actually Support
If ever there was a truism, it’s that everybody hates taxes—this week especially. Or do they? In at least a handful of situations, a surprisingly large portion of Americans favor introducing new taxes or jacking up the rates on …
Coupons for Snobs? Expansion of ‘Groupon Reserve’ Continues
Apparently, affluent foodies like getting deals as much as the next person. Groupon’s “Reserve” daily deal program, which focuses on fancy tasting menus and other luxury offerings, is spreading to its fourth U.S. city, Los Angeles. When considered alongside similarly high-end offers from Gilt City and LivingSocial Gourmet, the rise of …
At Davos, Why Is No One Talking About the Poor?
I first learned about the World Economic Forum at Davos as a greenhorn in college. At the time, I was knee-deep in coursework on economic development, a field that extols the social and economic virtues of tending to the world’s …
Class Warfare: Study Shows Tensions at 20-Year High
Tensions in the U.S. between rich and poor are at a 20-year high, according to a new study from Pew Research. This conflict now tops the discord between blacks and whites, young and old, and immigrants and the native-born.
Talk About ‘Old Money’: Old Folks Got Richer, Young People Much Poorer Over the Years
We’ve all heard of how the rich have gotten richer over the past several decades—the “great divergence,” as it’s been called, in which a small portion of the population has garnered an increasingly outsized percentage of net …
Welfare Soars in Ritzy Suburbs
More Young Adults Are Poor, Live With Their Parents
It’s not your imagination: It really is more crowded at mom and dad’s place. The Census Bureau made headlines yesterday with news that the nation’s official poverty rate hit 15.1%, the highest since 1993. Tough times have also translated into a rise in adult children moving back into (or never leaving) their parent’s homes. In the spring
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