Indianapolis, IN – The Indiana Institute for Working Families announced today that it has been awarded a grant from The Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of CICF, to support the Institute’s ongoing research and analysis on public policies that support economic self-sufficiency for Indiana’s working families.
As family-sustaining jobs have largely been lost to lower-wage positions over the past 15 years, poverty in Indiana has skyrocketed by 59 percent, and continues to rise even as unemployment declines. Additionally, the average Hoosier household’s income declined by more than $8,000. Central Indiana is particularly impacted, accounting for about 24 percent of the state’s low-income Hoosiers.
This new reality means that hard work alone is no longer a guaranteed ticket to economic self-sufficiency. Yet, even under these circumstances, Indiana’s long tradition of designing public programs that discourage participation, rather than promote access to the middle class, continues. These policy choices have, in part, contributed to the continued increase in Indiana’s impoverished and low-income population.
To combat these challenges, and as part of their mission to address pressing community needs and contribute to the long-term health and vibrancy of Indianapolis, The Indianapolis Foundation has invested $54,500 in the Institute to support its work on behalf of low-income working Hoosiers. “The Indiana Institute for Working Families has been a great partner in providing critical research and advocacy needed to strengthen policies that help all Hoosiers reach self-sufficiency,” said Brian Payne, President and CEO, Central Indiana Community Foundation and The Indianapolis Foundation.
“With the generous support of The Indianapolis Foundation, the Institute will be able to report on more programs crucial to a family’s well-being and, for the first time, model the economic benefits – for individual households and the state’s economy – of public policy choices and investments,” said Senior Policy Analyst, Derek Thomas.
