The Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty (MAIP)
New! MAIP has analyzed and reported on newly released income, poverty, and health insurance estimates for the U.S., Midwest states, Illinois, Chicago, and select Illinois counties. Click here for more information!
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MAIP publishes a variety of reports on poverty-related issues.
See all reports |
Upcoming Events
Members of Heartland's Research and Policy staff are speaking at the following events:
Prospering Communities, Thriving Families - Conneticut Community Action 2008 Conference
Marriott, Rocky Hill, CT
September 22 & 23, 2008
Champaign Hunger Symposium - Eastern Illinois Food Bank
Champaign Public Library
September 23, 2008 at 7:00pm
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Everyone in Illinois should have the opportunity to put food on their table, a roof over their head and give their kids a chance at a bright future, but that opportunity does not exist for the hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois living in extreme poverty.
Endorse the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign and say, Yes, I believe that freedom from poverty is a human right!
Endorse the campaign |
The new Heartland Alliance Action Alert system informs you of critical legislation and reports that impact economic well-being and allows you to weigh in with elected officials with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Sign up to receive Action Alerts |
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The Mid-America Institute on Poverty is the advocacy and research arm of Heartland Alliance and was established in 1989 as a vehicle for achieving systemic changes to improve the quality of life for poor and low-income individuals and families.
Read more about MAIP |
MAIP advances human rights, creates political will, and advocates for poverty solutions through a variety of campaigns, coalitions, and networks
Learn more about MAIP's campaigns, coaltions, and networks |
Heartland Alliance Testimony on Measuring Poverty in America
The current measure of poverty has long since failed to give an accurate picture of what families need to realize a decent, though modest, standard of living. Many experts agree that it takes an income of around two times the poverty line to pay for a family’s most basic expenses. The time is ripe to reevaluate the poverty measure and implement a relevant, useful measure that is both more complete in counting available family resources and that provides a realistic picture of how much income American families need to meet the price demands of their basic expenses such as housing, health care, child care, transportation, and food. Such a measure would present a picture of poverty that is anchored to real costs and would have the capacity to measure the impact policies and programs have on alleviating poverty, helping give a better sense of how to target resources.
Click here to read Heartland Alliance's testimony on the poverty measure.
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