Studies show that a growing number of U.S. families have incomes so low that the difficulties of their living situations may be masked by thinking of the poor as a homogeneous group. For instance, since the mid-1990s the number of families living on less than $2.00 in cash per person per day has more than doubled. Over the same interval, a smaller share of government social welfare spending has gone to the deeply poor.

This webinar addresses issues such as how these families subsist, what public assistance they receive, and what their health challenges are. It features presentations from key Johns Hopkins researchers on this topic: sociologist Kathryn Edin, economist Robert Moffitt, and epidemiologist Jacky Jennings. It is moderated by sociologist Andrew Cherlin. Their presentations were followed by 10-15 minutes of Q&A.

This webinar was co-hosted by the Hopkins Population Center and PRB’s Center for Public Information on Population Research, with funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.