In April 2013, Pew released The Geographic Distribution of the Mortgage Interest Deduction using IRS data from 2010 (for state level analysis) and 2007 (for zip code level analysis). The analysis showed that the claim rates and average amounts of this deduction — one of the largest single tax expenditures in the U.S. tax code — vary widely across and within states. The interactive and two of the state maps have been updated using recently published IRS state data for 2011.

A study from The Pew Charitable Trusts is the first to rate the largest U.S. banks on their policies regarding checking account disclosure terms and fees, overdraft, and dispute resolution practices. Checks and Balances: Measuring Checking Accounts’ Safety and Transparency, underscores the continued gaps in banking procedures that put consumers at financial risk and expose them to high, unexpected costs for little benefit.

A new study from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Retirement Security Across Generations: Are Americans Prepared for Their Golden Years?, examines the savings behavior of five age groups before the Great Recession. The research also explores how wealth losses during the recession affected each group’s retirement security by calculating replacement rates.

Providence, RI - Governor Lincoln D. Chafee announced today that Rhode Island has been selected as the 14th partner state to participate in the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative, which helps states assess the costs and benefits of policy options and use that data to make decisions based on results more

On April 4, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed into law a measure that sets up one of the strongest home visiting systems in the country by building on the strength of Kentucky’s flagship home visiting program for new and expectant parents, the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) Program. more

Midlevel dental providers perform preventive care and routine restorative duties, such as filling cavities. Although they work in more than 50 countries, including Canada and Britain, Minnesota and Alaska are the two states in which midlevel dental providers are licensed to work as part of the dental team. In Minnesota, dental therapists work in a variety of settings. Two dentists who supervise these practitioners in Minnesota share their perspectives. more

A new study from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment, examines how American families cope with unexpected financial setbacks and how those periods of economic uncertainty draw down financial resources. The report studies families across race and income levels, revealing different experiences resulting from unemployment and the difficult choices many of them face. more

On Feb. 13–14, 2013, The Pew Charitable Trusts co-hosted the Third National Summit on Quality in Home Visiting Programs with Every Child Succeeds and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. On this page, videos from five of the presenters show highlights of their remarks. more

President Obama today released details of the early childhood agenda outlined in his State of the Union Address. more

Today, more than 500 home visiting researchers, service providers, policymakers, and advocates are gathered for the Third National Summit on Quality in Home Visiting Programs in Washington, D.C. more

Sixty-one key cities across America have emerged from the Great Recession with a gap of more than $217 billion between what they had promised their workers in pensions and retiree health care and what they had saved to pay that bill, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. more

The newest research from Pew’s Economic Mobility Project reveals that a four-year college degree helped shield the latest graduates from a range of poor employment outcomes during the Great Recession, including unemployment, low-skill jobs, and lesser wages. more