Self-sufficiency
Self-sufficiency means families are able to meet their basic needs without having to rely on any public or private assistance. That is the definition that underlies the self-sufficiency standard, which we have long recommended as the best way for the state government or anyone else to measure the economic well-being of families.
The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado 2011
The Center for Women's Welfare and the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, October 2011
Opportunity Note - SB 07-235: Concerning the creation of an economic self-sufficiency standard, by Rich Jones, March 29, 2007
Press conference statement - The Bell Policy Center supports state funds for micro enterprise development, by Rich Jones, March 1, 2007
Press Release - Millions of families work hard but struggle to make ends meet: New report finds that one in four working families are low-income. Oct. 12, 2004
Working Hard, Falling Short: America's Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic
Security concludes that greater national and state-level attention is needed to address the problems confronting low-income working families, including access to need-based college scholarships, job training and subsidized child care.
Commentary - Report dispels myths about poverty, by Spiros Protopsaltis, The Boulder Daily Camera, Oct. 24, 2004
We all know that unemployment can lead to poverty, but hard work is supposed to protect families from economic distress. But the sad truth is that more than 27 percent of working families in this country are low-income.
Policy Brief - Help Colorado's workers get better skills and back to work, January 2003