In early February, nearly 600 Catholics from 42 states gathered in Washington, D.C.

According to the American Community Survey, men earned $12,739 more on average than women in 2017. Pay inequality between men and women is not a new problem, but one that has seen too little progress.  In fact, since 2010, the gap between men and women’s average earnings has only closed by about $100. 

Last week, we released a report on food insecurity and food deserts entitled Hungry at the Banquet: Food Ins

To my discredit, I’ve been something of an armchair environmentalist.  I trifle with recycling and composting.  Yet, I’ve mostly lived as if the grim effects of global warming would impact my children’s children, not me.  I’ll be long gone when the worst of

By: Oriel Romano & Ida Ansell 

Late in his first term President Barack Obama took action to prevent the deportation of young immigrants who had entered the U.S. as children--persons often referred to as “Dreamers.”[1] On June 12, 2012, he announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which allows undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. under the age of 16 and have continuously resided in the U.S.

There are few pop culture conversations more volatile than the one around racism. One poorly worded sentence can result in social ostracism. Racism doesn’t allow for a neutral space where one can philosophically engage from the safety of abstract thought. We all have skin in the game, so to speak. Many people would rather avoid these conversations all together; but, if race relations are to improve, these conversations are necessary.

Earlier this month, the Louisiana Legislature did the right thing in increasing the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 3.5 to 5 percent of the federal credit. This legislation acknowledges the importance of working families to the broader economy and promotes economic opportunity.

by Ted Arroyo, S.J.

Since JSRI’s founding in 2007, our mission has focused on research, education, and advocacy in the three social justice-related areas of poverty, migration, and racism, especially in the Gulf South region of the United States.