Read a recap of this event.
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 hosted a webcast focusing on how to strengthen the safety net for non-elderly adults. The event featured a fireside chat between U.S. Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden and Jason DeParle of The New York Times.
The event also included a panel discussion featuring Robert Greenstein (Brookings), Janet Gornick (The Graduate Center, CUNY), Bradley Hardy (Georgetown University), Sharon Parrott (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), and Ken Zimmerman (Fountain House).
In conjunction with the event, The Hamilton Project released 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.
For updates on the event, viewers followed @HamiltonProj and joined the conversation using #SafetyNet to ask questions or emailed [email protected].
Agenda
1:30 p.m. | Welcome
Wendy Edelberg, Director, The Hamilton Project, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
1:35 p.m. | Fireside chat
Neera Tanden, Director, U.S. Domestic Policy Council
Moderator: Jason DeParle, Senior Writer, The New York Times
2:05 p.m. | Roundtable discussion
Robert Greenstein, Visiting Fellow, The Hamilton Project, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Janet Gornick, Director, Stone Center, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Distinguished Chair in Socioeconomic Inequality, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Bradley Hardy, Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University; Nonresident Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Ken Zimmerman, CEO, Fountain House
Moderator: Sharon Parrott, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
