Guest Blog (Jennifer Wallis): Managing credit and debt for financial security

Jennifer Wallis is a certified consumer credit counselor and the Vice President of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Oklahoma.  To learn more about Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Central Oklahoma, visit www.cccsok.org or contact Jennifer Wallis at (405) 789-2227.… Read more [More...]

Kasey Hughart: Oklahoma workers remain vulnerable to wage theft

Kasey Hughart worked as an intern at the Oklahoma Policy Institute while attending the University of Tulsa as a Sociology major/Spanish minor.  Kasey is active in advocating for immigrant rights as the co-affiliate lead for DREAM Act Oklahoma, an official… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: Benchmarking Asset Development in Fighting Poverty, January 12th

Assets mean economic security.  Yet impoverished families frequently lack the means to build assets.  Some are even sanctioned by public assistance programs from accumulating the wealth they need to escape poverty.  Oklahoma earned a “C” grade from the Corporation for… Read more [More...]

What's the best way to boost the economy? Hint — it's not tax cuts

Several state leaders have taken to promoting more income tax cuts as the best way to improve Oklahoma’s economy. But is that true? We recently heard Timothy Bartik, senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, discuss the latest… Read more [More...]

Hunger by the Numbers: How many football stadiums would it take…

In September, the US Department of Agriculture released its annual report on household food security. For the 3-year period from 2008-10, an average of one in six Oklahoma households, 16.4 percent, experienced food insecurity. This means that “at times during… Read more [More...]

Job Posting: Oklahoma Assets seeks project manager

Oklahoma Assets is seeking a Project Manager to support the development of its organizational structure and implementation of its program and partnership activities.  Oklahoma Assets is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate policies and programs that can help… Read more [More...]

New measure provides insights into poverty and public programs

Earlier this fall, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the United States. In 2010, 15.1 percent of Americans, or 46.2 million persons, lived below the poverty level, which was $22,050 for a family of four. Among… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s Black-White Unemployment Gap

This 1-page fact sheet summarizes racial disparities in unemployment in Oklahoma.  Black workers in the state were unemployed at more than twice the rate (13.1 percent) of white workers (5.9 percent) in 2010.  These disparities are persistent and deeply entrenched… Read more [More...]

Angela Glover Blackwell: 'Equity is the superior growth model'

This blog post was excerpted from remarks by Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, during the opening session of PolicyLink’s 2011 Equity Summit in Detroit, Michigan.  The speech presented a new framework for creating an equitable economy.  Click… Read more [More...]

Affordable Credit in Oklahoma: Asset-building and Financial Security

This paper, recently released by Oklahoma Assets, explores the critical role of credit in helping Oklahomans maintain financial security and build assets for a prosperous future.  Access the full issue-brief: “Affordable Credit in Oklahoma: Asset-building and Financial Security” Or read… Read more [More...]