The U.S. social insurance system falls notably short for low-income working-age adults without dependents or government-determined disabilities. Safety net programs reduce this population’s poverty rate by only 8 percent, and millions are taxed further into poverty.
On April 17, The Hamilton Project will host an event focusing on how to strengthen the safety net for non-elderly adults. The event will feature a fireside chat between U.S. Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden and Jason DeParle of The New York Times.
The event will also include two panel discussions featuring Lauren Bauer (Brookings), Robert Greenstein (Brookings), Janet Gornick (The Graduate Center, CUNY), Bradley Hardy (Georgetown University), Sharon Parrott (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Cy Richardson (National Urban League), and Ken Zimmerman (Fountain House).
In conjunction with the event, The Hamilton Project will release three papers exploring the weaknesses in the safety net for non-elderly adults who are not raising children, identifying misconceptions about the composition of this population, and providing context by comparing the safety net for this population in Europe and the United States.