Public Assets Institute > Policy Areas > Family Economic Security

Family Economic Security

All Vermonters want and need sufficient income for a decent home, nutritious food, as well as health care, transportation, childcare, and other essentials. The ability of all citizens to live decently is fundamental to the cohesion of any society. The state can and should ensure that workers are paid fairly, treated with respect, and have affordable childcare; and that taxpayer money intended to put Vermonters to work is invested wisely.

IN FOCUS
October 5, 2023

We have the means to reduce poverty. What we need is the political will. That is the conclusion of a massive real-world experiment that took place during the Covid pandemic of 2020-2022. Now that the emergency has subsided, we are beginning to see the effects of actions—and the dangers of inaction—taken by political leaders to help people meet their ongoing basic needs.

In response to the economic problems triggered by the Covid pandemic, the federal government moved quickly to put money in people’s pockets. Some of the efforts were temporary, such as the Economic Impact Payments and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that helped employers retain their workers while businesses were shut down. Once things opened up again, those programs lapsed.

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