Earlier News Coverage

We live in a trickle-up economy, where the three million individuals who make up the wealthiest one percent of Americans are collectively worth more than the roughly 291 million people that make up the bottom 90 percent. This trend has accelerated in recent decades. For people in the middle, or at the lower end of the income spectrum, their piece of the pie is getting smaller.

As an organization committed to seeing governments raise money through progressive taxation, we at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law agree with the Tribune Editorial Board that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to use regressive property taxes to raise $300 million to close a portion of the city’s $1 billion deficit was a poor idea. We also believe that at least one proposal made in recent budget negotiations, eliminating the city’s guaranteed income pilot program to save $60 million, would be a terrible one.

There is an epic out-migration of Black families from Chicago, reversing the decades-long Great Migration that saw families leave the Jim Crow South for industrial jobs in Chicago and other Northern cities. Now it’s job opportunities and the promise of a better quality of life that are drawing Black working- and middle-class families, professionals and retirees to Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, as well as the Chicago suburbs.

Chicago-area residents might notice fewer health insurance plans available and a mixed bag when it comes to costs, as they select Affordable Care Act plans this open enrollment season, which kicked off Friday amid an election that could have consequences for future coverage.

In New York state, tenants can now take landlords to court to force repairs and get damages, without withholding rent first. Here's how one of the first tests of the new law worked.

Charnae Harmon was just 11 years old when her family moved into the Henry Horner Homes in 1985. Harmon recalls the “horrible conditions” that characterized her childhood inside the Horner high-rises. The development first began in the mid-'90s, around the time of the first Chicago-hosted Democratic National Convention (DNC). Now, after the DNC's return, the Chicago Housing Authority is trying to end an agreement guaranteeing adequate housing before the final phase of the redevelopment is complete.

Shriver Center President and CEO Audra Wilson told Salon: “I was both a campaign staffer and an Illinois delegate at the 2004 Democratic National Convention when then state senator Barack Obama gave his legendary ‘Red State Blue State’ speech. I was also on site and up close in Grant Park in November of 2008 where Barack and Michelle made history in being elected the first Black president and first lady of the United States. So naturally, I was excited to hear them speak at the 2024 convention, and on the cusp of another milestone: the election of America’s first female president. As a couple, they still exuded the same elegance, grace, and wisdom as they always have. But their tone was decidedly starker.”

Chicago is relaunching its guaranteed income program, which will give recipients $500 a month for one year – no strings attached. NBC Chicago’s Regina Waldroup talked to two people who said the program has changed their lives.

Joining Gov. J.B. Pritzker to celebrate the sweeping Healthcare Protection Act was House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Senate President Don Harmon, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, state Sens. Robert Peters and Laura Fine...and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law’s Stephani Becker.

Few places are immune to poverty, but rural counties in southern and central Illinois struggle the most. And perhaps nowhere experiences these challenges as deeply as Cairo.

Medical expenses, not credit cards, are the No. 1 reason people file for bankruptcy. More than half of adult Americans (56 percent) have some medical debt, and nearly a quarter of the population (23 percent) owe more than $10,000.

Audra Wilson, president and CEO of the Shriver Center, presented on a panel about building working women’s power at the Women Employed annual fundraiser.