The Price of Poverty

This week, WAMU's show "1A," which airs on Minnesota Public Radio at 10:00 a.m. Central, is focusing on poverty for an hour each day. They call the series "The Price of Poverty."

I happened to catch the first show today: "What It Means to Be Poor in America," which had three guests helping to set out some of the definitions and common understandings.

One person was from the Census Bureau; she gave the basics, like what's officially considered poverty and the effect of the covid-era Child Tax Credit, while the other two — who were sociologists — gave more nuanced information and comparisons with other countries. One of the professors works in the rural Northwest and talked about how isolation from services compounds with lack of income. 

Real people sent in comments about their experiences, including comments about how disability policy interacts with poverty, the way food-stamp eligibility cuts off at incredibly low income levels for single people, and other topics.

It was worth a listen. The next two shows will look more in depth at poverty among children and elders. I didn't catch what the last shows of the week will cover, and I don't see it on their website.