© 2026 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Suburbs Are The New Epicenter Of Poverty

You might think of the suburbs as those cozy places where people with more money live to escape the city. But it turns out that the suburbs are now the epicenter of poverty in America.

In the last decade, the rate of poverty in the suburbs has risen 66 percent — double the rise of poverty in the cities during the same time period.

Elizabeth Kneebone, author of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America” and a fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Maria Gomez, the president of Mary’s Center in Washington, D.C., joins Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson to discuss suburban poverty in America.

[Youtube]

Guests

  • Elizabeth Kneebone, author of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America” and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. She tweets @ekneebone.
  • Maria Gomez, president and founder of Mary’s Center in Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

An infographic from Confronting Suburban Poverty in America (confrontingsuburbanpoverty.org)
/
An infographic from Confronting Suburban Poverty in America (confrontingsuburbanpoverty.org)
This infographic shows what's driving the rise in suburban poverty. (Brookings Institution)
/
This infographic shows what's driving the rise in suburban poverty. (Brookings Institution)

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.