New Employment Data Shows Hardship Across the Commonwealth and for Low-Wage Earners
Amidst a new surge of COVID-19 cases, recent data shows that employment in virtually all Kentucky counties remained severely depressed...
Research
Kentucky Recovery Halted in September, Heightening Need for Much More Federal Aid
New jobs numbers for September show Kentucky's economy failed to make badly-needed progress last month as the effects of federal stimulus legislation passed in March continue to fade. The state's...
Kentucky Has Much to Lose if Supreme Court Strikes Down the Affordable Care Act
Kentucky has greatly benefitted from the 2010 passage of the federal Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act (ACA). Thanks to the ACA, we were among states with the largest declines...
IDs Are a Necessity for Successful Reentry
When people who have been incarcerated are released from jail and prison, support services such as housing and mental health can help them get back on their feet and avoid...
How Kentucky Should Spend Remaining Coronavirus Relief Fund Monies
The federal government provided $1.6 billion in Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) monies to the state of Kentucky as part of the CARES Act that passed Congress on March 27th. As...
Continued Slow Job Growth in August, Historic Kentucky Jobs Gap Remains
Kentucky had another month of relatively modest job growth in August, and the state continues to face a massive shortage of jobs while signs in the national economy show more...
Black Kentucky Workers Are More Likely To Have Been Laid Off in the Pandemic, and Less Likely To Have Been Hired Since
Black Kentuckians are experiencing job loss at a higher rate than white Kentuckians in the COVID-19 pandemic. A long history of racist policies ranging from slavery and Jim Crow to...
More College Students Can’t Meet Their Basic Needs in the COVID-19 Pandemic, Requiring Federal and State Action
Too many college students in Kentucky returning to school in-person and online during the pandemic face challenges getting adequate food and housing. Meeting such basic needs was already a struggle...
Kentucky Must Continue Momentum Reducing Jail and Prison Population
As we enter the seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and prisons have been among the top “hotspots” for COVID-19 at the same time incarcerated individuals are among the...
Federal Relief Shored Up Kentucky’s Budget, but New Projections Raise Big Concerns About Remainder of Year
The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has harmed Kentucky’s revenues and budget, but in the last fiscal year the impact was softened by substantial federal relief to families,...