2014 Oklahoma Poverty Profile

Did you know that 1 in 6 Oklahomans lived in poverty last year (annual income below $23,850 for a family of four)? Based on recently-released Census Bureau data, OK Policy's 2014 Poverty Profile breaks down what poverty looks like in our state... Read more [More...]

Why the wealth of college-educated minorities is especially vulnerable (Guest post: Ryan Gentzler)

Ryan Gentzler is a Research Associate at the Early Childhood Education Institute at OU-Tulsa and a former OK Policy Research Fellow. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis recently issued a report that highlighted the effect of higher education on… Read more [More...]

With the right strategies, Oklahomans can overcome unprecedented drought (Guest post: Martin Koch)

Martin Koch is an M.A. student at the University of Kansas’s Department of Geography.  He recently earned a B.A. in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Oklahoma.  Oklahoma has struggled under severe drought conditions for most of the decade. Conditions… Read more [More...]

OKC panhandling ordinance part of a disturbing trend of criminalizing poverty

[Update: During public comments on the ordinance, a large majority of those speaking said that passing it would be a mistake. A final vote is still scheduled for Oct. 13.] Today the Oklahoma City Council is holding a public hearing… Read more [More...]

New Census data shows Oklahoma continues to trail nation in fighting poverty and covering uninsured

New Census data shows Oklahoma made little progress in reducing the percentage of families living in poverty in 2014. In that year, almost one out of six Oklahomans (16.6 percent) were making less than the poverty line of $24,000 a… Read more [More...]

Community Eligibility Provision can help make Oklahoma schools hunger-free

[Go to the full report.] Despite Oklahoma’s prosperity, too many children go without access to regular, healthy food. State food banks continue to report giving away record amounts of food, and the state’s SNAP enrollment has not significantly declined since… Read more [More...]

Has Oklahoma reduced its dependence on the oil and gas industry?

Chan Aaron is an OK Policy intern. He is pursuing an environmental policy degree at The University of Tulsa. He is also a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in philosophy and a veteran of the United States… Read more [More...]

Issue Brief: Community Eligibility Can Help Make Oklahoma Schools Hunger-Free

With the Community Eligibility Provision, participating schools can eliminate school meals paperwork and serve all students at no charge. Our report explains the program’s benefits and how it works, as well as its potential for Oklahoma schools... Read more [More...]

Should Oklahoma put a tax on carbon?

Derek Wietelman is an OK Policy summer intern. He is an Oklahoma State University student pursuing a double major in statistics and political science, with minors in economics and environmental economics, politics, and policy. Last May, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse… Read more [More...]

Interactive: What the jobs are in Oklahoma

Politicians love to talk about jobs. Promoting job creation is a go-to justification in many of Oklahoma’s policy decisions, whether it’s to extend tax breaks for oil companies or ban local minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. However, aside… Read more [More...]