Income

Our Policy Statement

United Way of Illinois will engage policymakers, business leaders and the nonprofit community to craft policies that enable the state's lower-income families achieve financial stability. The first step toward this goal is to ensure access to tools and resources that help individuals and families reduce debts and increase income, build savings, and grow assets.

Income Public Policy Agenda

Income-Related Research

Woodstock Institute

Personal bankruptcy fillings in predominantly Hispanic and white communities in Cook County more than tripled from 2006 to 2010, according to a Woodstock Institute review of court filings.

Though filings rose only 71% in predominantly African-American communities, bankruptcies continue to be concentrated in those neighborhoods. In 2010, 25% of all bankruptcy filings were from African-American communities in Cook County.

In addition, female-headed households in African-American communities represent the largest share of bankruptcy filings at 16.7% of all cases between 2006 and 2010.

Read more about how bankruptcies affect minority communities and women in the institute's recent report, Bridging the Gap II: Examining Trends and Patterns of Personal Bankruptcy in Cook County's Communities of Color.

Center for Financial Security

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research suggests a link between victims of domestic violence and their economic dependence. In particular, women who are economically dependent on their partners are less likely to leave abusive relationships. The more economically dependent a woman is, the more severe the abuse she experiences.

In May, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S. Department of Treasury and Social Security Administration hosted a workshop on the topic, "Exploring the Intersection between Financial Capability and Domestic Violence."

To learn more, you can view the workshop presentations and a summary on the university's Center for Financial Security website.

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

A federal tax agreement passed in December is expected to benefit working mothers, low-income families, students and the unemployed. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extends tax credits that help reduce poverty and promote financial stability.

The Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit and other supportive policies increase take-home pay, reduce the tax burden for low-income families and maintains federal unemployment benefits through 2011.

Read more about the federal policies in a recent Shriver Center publication.

Also, check out the Shriver Center's Poverty Scorecard to see how U.S. Congress members from Illinois were graded on their support of poverty-related legislation.

Center for Economic & Financial Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act has two educational components:

U of I and Money Management International, Inc. studied the effectiveness of those provisions in 2010, five years after the law passed. Their research found debtors were managing their finances significantly better after counseling, with the improvement persisting for at least a year.

Read the research brief, Life After Bankruptcy: The Role of Credit Counseling and Financial Education in Helping Debtors Obtain a Fresh Start.

Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty

Almost 760,000 Illinois residents are living in extreme poverty, a number that represents 6% of the state's population and is up from 5.4% in 2008.

Extreme poverty is defined as individuals and families with income levels at 50% or less of the federal poverty level. In 2011, extreme poverty would be $5,445 or less for an individual and $11,175 or less for a family of four.

The commission's Poverty Elimination Strategy released in December 2010 outlines how Illinois can cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

Recommendations include:

For more information, read the entire report, Building a Pathway to Dignity & Work.

Media

Check out NPR's five-part series Money Counts: A Series for the Financially Young. The stories look at the relationship between young people and their finances in light of growing up during the recent economic recession.