Poorest of the poor - the forgotten bottom
In recent years, Americans at the bottom of the economic ladder, those who are long-term unemployed, yet not homeless have lost all safety nets that in the past would have provided assistance in the form of job training and housing subsidies. For those still lucky enough to have a place to live, they must find a way to pay for living quarters without the income. With the economy still not recovered for some, what are better ways to help those at the very bottom? Should the government take a more active role in providing a safety net for those at the bottom? "...government assistance for families whose incomes flutter just above the poverty line nearly doubled from 1983 to 2004 after taking inflation into account. The numbers look very different for those scraping along at the bottom, generally unemployed single mothers with children. Their benefits declined in real terms by about one-third." Patricia Cohen, NY Times interview with Robert A. Moffitt, economist at Johns Hopkins University Read the entire article below: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/business/economy/aid-to-needy-often-excludes-the-poorest-in-america.html?_r=0