The Census Bureau released its annual income, poverty, and health insurance report yesterday,

revealing that four years into the economic recovery, there has been some progress in the poverty rate
as it fell from 15 percent in 2012 to 14.5 percent in 2013, but there was no statistically significant
improvement in the number of Americans living in poverty. Furthermore, low- and middle-income
workers have seen little to no income growth over the past decade, as the gains from economic growth
have gone largely to the wealthiest Americans.

With flat incomes and inequality stuck at historically high levels, one might assume that chronic
economic insecurity and an off-kilter economy are the new normal and that nothing can be done to fix
it. But there is nothing normal or inevitable about elevated poverty levels and stagnant incomes. They
are the direct result of policy choices that put wealth and income into the hands of a few at the expense
of growing a strong middle class.

The good news is that different policy choices can bring different outcomes. When the government
invests in jobs and policies to increase workers’ wages and families’ economic security, children and
families see improved outcomes in both the short and long term.

Here are 10 steps Congress can take to cut poverty, boost economic security, and expand the middle
class.

1. Create jobs

The best pathway out of poverty is a well-paying job. To get back to prerecession employment levels, we
must create 5.6 million new jobs. At the current pace, however, we will not get there until July 2018. To
kick-start job growth, the federal government should invest in job-creation strategies such as rebuilding
our infrastructure; developing renewable energy sources; renovating abandoned housing; and making
other common-sense investments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and boost our national
economy. We should also build on proven models of subsidized employment to help the long-term
unemployed and other disadvantaged workers re-enter the labor force.

In addition, the extension of federal unemployment insurance would have created 200,000 new jobs in
2014, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Indeed, every $1 in benefits that flows to jobless
workers yields more than $1.50 in economic activity. Unfortunately, Congress failed to extend federal
unemployment insurance at the end of 2013, leaving 1.3 million Americans and their families without
this vital economic lifeline.
2. Raise the minimum wage

In the late 1960s, a full-time worker earning the minimum wage could lift a family of three out of
poverty. Had the minimum wage back then been indexed to inflation, it would be $10.86 per hour
today, compared to the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Raising the minimum wage to
$10.10 per hour and indexing it to inflation—as President Barack Obama and several members of
Congress have called for—would lift more than 4 million Americans out of poverty. Nearly one in five
children would see their parent get a raise. Recent action taken by cities and states—such as Seattle,
Washington; California; Connecticut; and New Jersey—shows that boosting the minimum wage reduces
poverty and increases wages.

3. Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers

One of our nation’s most effective anti-poverty tools, the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, helped
more than 6.5 million Americans—including 3.3 million children—avoid poverty in 2012. It’s also an
investment that pays long-term dividends. Children who receive the EITC are more likely to graduate
high school and to have higher earnings in adulthood. Yet childless workers largely miss out on the
benefit, as the maximum EITC for these workers is less than one-tenth that awarded to workers with
two children.