The Half in Ten campaign is building on the work of the Center for American Progress’ Task Force on Poverty. The Task Force concluded that efforts to address poverty should be grounded in four fundamental principles:

1. Promote Decent Work

Decent work is a fundamental cornerstone of prosperity, and work should pay enough to ensure that workers and their families can avoid poverty, meet basic needs, and save for the future.

2. Provide Opportunity for All

Children should grow up in conditions that maximize their opportunities for success; adults should have opportunities throughout their lives to connect to work, get more education, live in a good neighborhood, and move up in the workforce or create businesses of their own.

3. Ensure Economic Security.

Americans should not fall into poverty in times when they cannot work or work is unavailable, unstable, or pays too little to make ends meet.

4. Help People Build Wealth.

All Americans should have assets that allow them to weather periods of flux and volatility and provide the resources that are essential to upward economic mobility.