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Poverty

Our coverage of poverty in America, which policies help reduce it, and why it's so hard to achieve economic mobility.

The lie of “expired” food and the disastrous truth of America’s food waste problem

By Alissa Wilkinson

Biden has launched the second war on poverty

By Dylan Matthews

We tried to predict 2020. Here’s what we got right — and so very wrong.

By Kelsey Piper, Sigal Samuel, and 1 more

What Kenya can teach its neighbors — and the US — about improving the lives of the “unbanked”

By Kelsey Piper

How Canada lifted nearly 300,000 kids out of poverty in a single year

By Byrd Pinkerton, Dylan Matthews, and 2 more

The Nobel went to economists who changed how we help the poor. But some critics oppose their big idea.

By Kelsey Piper

Vouchers can help the poor find homes. But landlords often won’t accept them.

By Stephanie Wykstra

A generation of economists helped get us into this mess. A new generation can get us out.

By Jared Bernstein

Alaska’s universal basic income problem

By Robyn Sundlee

The Catch-22 for labor unions enjoying newfound public support

By Dylan Scott

How Trump used a centuries-old racist trope to attack Baltimore

By P.R. Lockhart

What economists have gotten wrong for decades

By Jared Bernstein

The Fed is doing something new: listening to low-income workers

By Jared Bernstein

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The 2020 Democratic primary debate over reparations, explained

By P.R. Lockhart

2020 Democrats share plans to fight poverty at presidential forum

By P.R. Lockhart

The GOP tax law’s lopsided giveaway to corporations, explained in one sentence

By Dylan Scott

Trump wants to change how poverty is calculated — to make fewer people eligible for benefits

By Dylan Matthews

India’s poor don’t want money — they want health care

By Kelsey Piper

America’s anti-poor tax audits, in one infuriating map

By Dylan Matthews

Congress asked top experts for a plan to cut child poverty in half. Here it is.

By Dylan Matthews

Bill and Melinda Gates and the problem of the “good billionaire”

By Dylan Matthews

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5 anti-poverty plans from 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, explained

By Dylan Matthews

India’s opposition leader just endorsed a basic income for poor people

By Dylan Matthews

3 parts you don’t remember from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

By Michelle Garcia

Microcredit was a hugely hyped solution to global poverty. What happened?

By Stephanie Wykstra

It’s hard to design good policies. This simple idea can help governments do it.

By Meagan Neal

This stream has:

Giving Tuesday 2019: news and updates

By Vox Staff

“Schools are segregated because white people want them that way"

By Sean Illing

23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better

By Dylan Matthews

Why Bill Gates is worried

By Ezra Klein

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You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do?

Inside the Open Philanthropy Project, the group tasked with giving away Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz's massive fortune.

By Dylan Matthews

Giving out cash is a great way to fight poverty. This approach might be even better.

By Dylan Matthews

Income inequality is changing how we think, live, and die

By Sean Illing

Why the myth of a perfect meritocracy is so pernicious 

By Sean Illing

Environmental racism is dangerous. Trump’s EPA doesn’t seem to care.

By P.R. Lockhart

Why capitalism won’t survive without socialism

By Sean Illing

5 Anthony Bourdain quotes that show why he was beloved around the world

By Alexia Underwood

The official poverty measure is garbage. The census has found a better way.

By Dylan Matthews

College football is a moneymaking sham

By Sean Illing

Genetically engineered humans will arrive sooner than you think. And we're not ready.

By Sean Illing