Income White Paper

The American ideal is that hard work will lead to success and that, regardless of one’s origins, America is the land of opportunity. However, that ideal is in peril.  Even with more than one family member bringing in wages — or with one person holding multiple jobs — many families are barely getting by, with no ability to save for college, a home, or retirement. Individuals who have limited literacy, math, and computer skills face significant challenges to finding work that can support a family — challenges that have been exacerbated by the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs in our region.

 

Adults living in poverty face many challenges, as do their children. Low-income children are at least twice as likely as higher-income children to have physical health problems, experience emotional and behavioral health difficulties, have learning disabilities, and be at risk of developmental delays. This extends the income gap between Connecticut’s high and low wage earners into future generations.