Nearly 4 million adults in the UK have been forced to use food banks due to ”shocking” levels of deprivation, figures have revealed for the first time. An exclusive poll commissioned by The Independent reveals one in 14 Britons has had to use a food bank, with similar numbers also forced to skip meals and borrow money as austerity measures leave them “penniless with nowhere to turn”.

Amarillo College, in Texas, is working hard to accommodate low-income students—but it can only do so much.

Research conducted by Florida Atlantic University and Cleveland State University has, for the first time, quantified the relationship between the lack of paid sick leave and poverty in the United States. The data indicates that, even when controlling for education, race, sex, marital status and employment, working adults without paid sick leave are three times more likely to have incomes below the poverty line.

In his 20s, Chris Hughes co-founded Facebook Inc., helped elect a U.S. president, and made almost half-a-billion dollars. Then he turned 30 and, as he freely admits, his lucky streak came to an abrupt, high-profile end after a disastrous attempt to turn around the New Republic magazine. Hughes, 34, now devotes his time to evangelizing for higher taxes on the rich, such as himself. He's proposing that the government give a guaranteed income of $500 a month to every working American earning less than $50,000 a year...

Too bad the poorhouse is going condo. By Doktor Zoom.

Childhood poverty cost $1.03 trillion in 2015, about 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Three days before their wedding ceremony, Michelle Vestal’s dress and Bob J Kitcheon’s suit were stolen. Most couples would have panicked, but they took it in stride. “Things get taken all the time out here,” Mr. Kitcheon said with a shrug. He and Ms. Vestal live in a tent by the side of a parking lot in the south of Seattle, a few minutes’ drive from downtown. Mark Lloyd, a local resident and volunteer, and now friend to the couple, stepped in. He gave Mr. Kitcheon a shirt and drove them both to a Goodwill store. As is the way in their relationship, the couple helped each other choose new clothes.

Senate Bill 1913, by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would allow courts to ask defendants if they are too poor to pay for traffic tickets, fines for other low-level and fine-only offenses or court costs. Legislation that would make it easier for poor people to satisfy traffic tickets with alternatives to payment cleared the Texas House on Tuesday on a vote of 75-70. The bill needs to be approved by the Senate again before moving to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

Bill Gates reviews “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund.

For the past 20 years, Hope Workman has hustled up a dirt path on the side of a mountain in Lovely, Kentucky, just to get drinking water. She doesn't trust what comes out of her tap. If she's by herself, she'll take her ATV. If one of her daughters is coming along, they take their four-wheel-drive truck. It takes her about seven minutes to grind up the hill before she reaches her destination: a small plastic well tapped into the side of the mountain with a 3½-foot PVC pipe.

Liberals and conservatives alike love—and fear—the idea of giving free money to everyone. But we have to try it anyway.

Numbers are in millions of people. Extreme poverty is defined as living with per capita household consumption below 1.90 international dollars per day (in 2011 PPP prices). International dollars are adjusted for inflation and for price differences across countries.

Oral health cannot properly be considered apart from the health of the rest of the body. By Austin Frakt.

The number of children in poverty across the UK has surged by 100,000 in a year, new figures show, prompting calls for the ministers to urgently review cuts to child welfare. Government statistics published on Thursday show 4.1 million children are now living in relative poverty after household costs, compared with 4 million the previous year, accounting for more than 30 per cent of children in the country.

The Los Angeles City Council pledged Tuesday to support a minimum number of housing units for homeless people in each of the districts they represent. Under the pledge, each council member will back the approval of at least 222 units of supportive housing in his or her district before July 1, 2020, including any units approved since last July. The City Council resolution is not binding, but lawmakers said it is important that they publicly make a shared commitment to build homeless housing across the sprawling city.

Lacking money or time can lead one to make poorer decisions, possibly because poverty imposes a cognitive load that saps attention and reduces effort. Mani et al. (p. 976; see the Perspective by Vohs) gathered evidence from shoppers in a New Jersey mall and from farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. They found that considering a projected financial decision, such as how to pay for a car repair, affects people's performance on unrelated spatial and reasoning tasks.

The historian Elizabeth Catte on J.D. Vance, colonial logic, and the end of coal in the region that outsiders love to imagine but can’t seem to understand. By Regan Penaluna.

Cash assistance isn’t just a moral imperative that raises living standards. It’s also a critical investment in the health and future careers of low-income kids.

We spoke to Katie Endicott, a high school English teacher, about why teachers are not returning to the classroom, despite a deal that offered them a 5 percent raise.

Poor people who live and work next door are rendered invisible by the very structure of American life. Earlier this month, Melinda and Bill Gates’s annual letter said they’d been looking to identify areas in which they could expand their philanthropic work in the US. To do so, Bill explained, they took a tour across the country.