Economic Well-Being
Children are not economically secure unless their families are. Family Economic
Security refers to a family's ability to meet its financial needs in a way that promotes the health and well-being of parents and their children in both the short and long term.
Personal or household income is generally regarded as the single best measure of the degree to which people are "well off." But other factors also contribute to people’s well-being. Some of these gauges of how people are faring at the household level include: possession of consumer durables, housing conditions, neighborhood conditions, and whether or not people can meet basic needs.
Recent Work
06/30/09 Increasing the Minimum Wage Rate: A Net Benefit in Kentucky
The minimum wage increased to $7.25 on July 1st, 2009, meaning larger paychecks for approximately 100,000 workers making the minimum wage in Kentucky. Kentucky Youth Advocates released a policy brief analyzing the expected impacts on Kentuckians, finding that the wage increase will help working families by increasing their incomes and benefit Kentucky’s economy by increasing spending.
In an effort to hear the real effects that payday lending and other high‐cost financial services have on Kentucky’s low‐income families, Kentucky Youth Advocates conducted a qualitative research study consisting of focus groups and interviews. The findings of the study, along with recommendations for addressing the burden of high‐cost financial products, are explained in the report released today.
08/26/08 U.S. Census Bureau Reveals Increases in Poverty and Uninsured Over Past Seven Years
The U.S. Census Bureau released Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.: 2007. While Kentucky’s poverty rate decreased slightly in 2007, Census Bureau data reveals families are faring worse over time. Kentuckians were more likely to be poor or to lack health coverage last year than in 2001, when the last recession bottomed out. In addition, the median household income in Kentucky was lower in 2007 than in 2001, after adjusting for inflation.
Learn More
Find out more about economic well-being issues in Kentucky: