Poverty and Economic Inequality

Poverty and economic inequality are pressing human rights problems in the United States. For many residents living in poverty, certain human rights are out of reach. They may lack access to safe work conditions, housing, education, health services, or clean water and basic sanitation. They may be unable participate in political life or vindicate their rights in court due to their poverty. They may also suffer unequal treatment or discrimination due to their status as poor people. Finally, they may face unfair burdens of debt and unequal treatment due to state and local governments’ growing reliance on offender-funded systems of criminal justice. The persistence of these problems and of poverty in the United States, which can afford to do far more to address them, is unconscionable. Our work aims to investigate the intersections between rights violations and poverty in the United States and advocate for reforms that will end them.