Everything but the kitchen sink
Jun 9, 2016
Season 1 | Episode 4

Everything but the kitchen sink

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How does your state spend federal welfare dollars? It's probably not how you think

What do college scholarships, marriage counseling classes and crisis pregnancy centers have in common? In some states, they’re funded by federal welfare dollars.

We are continuing our cross-country tour where we drop in on states to investigate how they spend welfare money, known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF.  This week: Michigan.  The state spends about $100 million a year in TANF dollars on college scholarships—and many recipients are from families that earn more than $100,000 year.

Meanwhile, just 18 out of every 100 families living in poverty receives basic cash assistance.

If you’re curious about how your state spends federal welfare dollars, check out this online tool from Marketplace.

Welcome back to “The Uncertain Hour,” the Wealth & Poverty desk’s new podcast hosted by Senior Correspondent Krissy Clark.

The future of this podcast starts with you.

This season of “The Uncertain Hour” tells the unheard stories of real people affected by the welfare-to-work industrial complex.

Stories like these are seldom in the limelight. It takes extensive time and resources to do this type of investigative journalism … to help you understand the complexity of our economy and to hold the powerful to account.

We need your support to keep doing impactful reporting like this.

Become a Marketplace Investor today and stand up for vital, independent journalism.