Average Personal Income 25% Lower in Rural Areas
Daily Yonder | READ STORY

Most of America is below average, at least when it comes to personal income. The map above shows if counties had average personal income above or below the 2014 national average, which was just a few dollars more than $46,000. Eight out of 10 counties in the U.S. had average incomes that fell below the national average. In rural America, just 17.5 percent of counties had above-average incomes in 2014.

2015's Most and Least Charitable States
WalletHub | READ STORY

America is a selfless nation. In fact, it ranked second overall in 2015's World Giving Index and in the top 10 for two of the three charitable-giving behaviors that are tracked by the index. Just how altruistic are Americans? 95.4 percent of households donate to charities, each contributing an annual average of $2,974. According to the National Philanthropic Trust, in 2014 alone, Americans gave more than $358 billion, 72 percent of which came directly from individuals.

The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground
Pew Research Center | READ STORY

After more than four decades of serving as the nation's economic majority, the American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it. In early 2015, 120.8 million adults were in middle-income households, compared with 121.3 million in lower- and upper-income households combined, a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.

Know Your Economy: Economic Tools Updated for Every County
Headwaters Economics | READ STORY

Headwaters Economics recently updated several free, easy-to-use economic tools with the latest data and trends for every county in the country. Their Economic Profile System, for example, now has the latest data (through 2014) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis for every county in the nation. These new data include employment, personal income, labor earnings by industry, unearned income by source, and more.

Which Countries Have The Highest Rates Of Child Poverty?
Forbes | READ STORY

According to the OECD, child poverty is measured as the proportion of children living in households with an equivalised disposable income of less than half of the median income of the total population. Just how prevalent is child poverty across the world's developed economies? While countries in northern Europe have the lowest rates of child poverty, according to the OECD, the highest rates can be found in Israel, Turkey and Mexico where over a quarter of children live in poor families.

The Paris Agreement: Turning Point for a Climate Solution
WRI | READ STORY

At the UN Climate Conference in Paris, known as COP21, 196 countries joined together in the Paris Agreement, a universal pact that sets the world on a course to a zero-carbon, resilient, prosperous and fair future. While the Agreement is not enough by itself to solve the problem, it places us clearly on the path to a truly global solution.

What's Food Loss and Waste Got to Do with Climate Change? A Lot, Actually.
WRI | READ STORY

Consider for a moment that, by weight, around a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. According to figures recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), food loss and waste accounts for about 4.4 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (4.4 Gt CO2e) per year. To put this in perspective, if food loss and waste were its own country, it would be the world's third-largest emitter