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(2/10/2010) Monthly Employment Data Update
For additional information and a further breakdown of the January employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf A statement on the January Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) can be found at: http://www.cbpp.org/files/2-5-10ui-stmt.pdf
(1/13/2010) Monthly Employment Data Update
**The underemployment rate includes “involuntary part-time” workers and workers who have given up looking for work as well as the unemployed. For additional information and a further breakdown of the December 2009 employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A statement on the December Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at: http://www.cbpp.org/files/1-8-10ui-stmt.pdf. Additional information on December’s underemployment rate can be found at the Economic Policy Institute website: http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/
(12/13/2009) Monthly Employment Data Update
For additional information and a further breakdown of the November 2009 employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A statement on the November Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at: http://www.cbpp.org/files/12-4-09ui-stmt.pdf.
(11/11/2009) Monthly Employment Data Update Unemployment in October rose to 10.2 percent versus 9.8 percent in September (the highest since April 1983). October’s unemployment rate for African American men, 20 years old or older, rose to 17.1 percent versus 16.5 percent in September. October’s unemployment rate for African American women, 20 years old or older, dropped slightly to 12.4 percent versus 12.5 percent in September. October’s unemployment rate for African American teen-agers, 16 to 19 years, rose to 41.3 percent versus 40.8 percent in September. For additional information and a further breakdown of the October 2009 employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A statement on the October Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at: cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2985&emailView=1.
(9/23/2009) 2008 Census Bureau Report Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2008 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Data report. Although this report delivers a bleak picture of poverty, median income, and the number of uninsured in 2008, economists predict that all of these numbers will look significantly worse in 2009.
(6/10/2009) Monthly Employment Data Update: Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2009
For additional information and a further breakdown of the May 2009 employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A statement on the May Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at: http://www.cbpp.org/files/6-5-09ui-stmt.pdf.
(8/12/2009) Payday Lending According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, Wisconsin is the only state with no regulations dealing specifically with payday lending products. In Wisconsin, consumers paid almost $85 million in payday lending fees in 2003. The average income of payday borrowers is less than $19,000. More than 50 percent of the loans analyzed by DFI were refinanced. The number of payday loan locations in Wisconsin has grown from 64 in 1996 to 542 in 2008.
SOURCES:
(8/5/2009) Minimum Wage Effective Friday, July 24th, the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees was raised to $7.25 per hour. If an employee is covered by both state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher minimum wage. Please see the Department of Labor website for Frequently Asked Questions about the Minimum Wage: http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/q-a.htm. Information about coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.pdf.
(6/10/2009) Monthly Employment Data Update: Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2009
For additional information and a further breakdown of the May 2009 employment data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A statement on the May Employment report by the Chief Economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities can be found at: http://www.cbpp.org/files/6-5-09ui-stmt.pdf.
(5/8/2009) Unemployment continues to rise in April
For additional information on the April 2009 employment situation and a further breakdown of the data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf. A copy of the Commissioner’s statement on this month’s unemployment statistics can be found at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jec.pdf.
(4/21/2009) Take Care Recovery Plan Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems offer free health care to families that suffer loss of jobs and health insurance benefits after March 31, 2009. This offer will continue throughout the remainder of 2009 for all current and future Take Care Clinic patients and their families. The program, Take Care Recovery Plan, will include most services provided at the Take Care Clinics, including treatment of common illnesses such as colds, flu, upper respiratory ailments, and minor skin conditions. The plan does not include wellness services such as physicals, vaccinations, health assessments, and injection/infusion administration. Additionally, Quest Diagnostics, Inc. is partnering with Walgreens and Take Care Clinic by providing free laboratory testing services for strep throat and urinary tract infections as ordered by Take Care Clinic Health providers in the course of treatment. Free services will only be offered Monday – Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Patients must present proof of unemployment, including a federal or state unemployment determination letter and an unemployment check stub. For further information about the Take Care Recovery Plan, eligibility, certification forms, frequently asked questions, and terms and conditions go to: http://www.takecarehealth.com/recoveryplan/.
(4/6/2009) Update on Employment
For additional information on the March 2009 employment situation and a further breakdown of the data, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
(3/6/2009) Bad news in job losses continues with February’s jobs report
For more on February’s jobs report and the projected impact of the Recovery Law on the unemployment rate, go to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website: http://www.cbpp.org/.
(2/10/2009) States’ Unemployment Rates at Highest Levels in Years The national unemployment rate was at 7.2 percent in December. Several states have reported unemployment rates which are at the highest levels seen in decades. The state of Michigan reported the highest unemployment rate of 10.6 percent. For more on the current unemployment rates go to the Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012303600.html?sub=new.
(10/28/2008) Black Male Unemployment In an update to his 2007 study, “Black Male Joblessness in Milwaukee” Professor Marc Levine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee reported that Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the second highest jobless rate at 51.1%. The city with the highest unemployment rate was Buffalo, New York at 51.4% However, Milwaukee had the distinction of holding the largest racial gap amongst the 35 metro areas in the study. The gap between black and white jobless rates was 32.5 percentage points. Professor Levines’ report is based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. For a full copy of the report “The Crisis Continues: Black Male Joblessness in Milwaukee 2007,” please go to: http://www4.uwm.edu/ced/publications/black_joblessness07.pdf.
(9/17/2008) Gender Disparity in Parental Rights and Services Two recent court cases in the State of Minnesota reversed the termination of parental rights and questioned the provision of services from child protection agencies for fathers. The court cited disparity in the level and quality of services offered to mothers as compared to noncustodial fathers. For a copy of the legal opinion go to the following hyperlinks:
(7/22/2008) Child Support Arrears Recent research has shown a close correlation between the payment of child support orders and noncustodial parents' income levels. In a recent study of child support arrears (debt) commissioned by the DHHS..., researchers with the Urban Institute made the following findings:
To read the full report: “Assessing Child Support Arrears in Nine Large States and the Nation,” go to: http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/assessing-CS-debt/.
(4/8/2008) Hunger A recent New York Times article reports that the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year. This would be the highest level of receipt since the program began in the 1960s. Michigan was highlighted as a state with a notable increase in food stamp usage. According to the report, one in eight residents now receive food stamps in Michigan, and the caseload has more than doubled since 2000. The Food Stamp program is an entitlement program, with eligibility guidelines set by federal law. Eligibility is determined by a complex formula, but, basically, there is a strict asset limit, and an eligible recipient must have an income below $27,560 for a family of four or 130 percent of the federal poverty line. The author speculated that the increase in the use of food stamps can be attributed to layoffs, and rising food and fuel prices. You can read the full article, (“As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record” Erik Eckholm, March 31, 2008) at http://www.nytimes.com. Unemployment In a related New York Times article, it was reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits shot up last week to the highest level in more than two years. The source of the information used in this article is the U.S. Department of Labor. For the complete article “Jobless Filings at Highest Level Since Late 2005,” (April 4, 2008) go to: http://www.nytimes.com/.
(3/4/2008) Incarceration Rates The Pew Charitable Fund has released a report titled One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008. One in every 100 adult is now confined in an American jail or prison. The United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world. On the basis of race and gender the numbers are even more dramatic. Generally for Black men, the ratio is 1 in 15. For young men behind bars between the ages of 20 and 34, it is a 1 in 30 ratio, while for Black men, the figure is 1 in 9. For Black women, in their mid-to-late 30s, the incarceration rate is 1 in 100, the same ratio as that for all men, while for Hispanic women the ratio is 1 in 297. The ratio for White women was 1 in 355. For a copy of the full report go to: http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/One%20in%20100.pdf.
(2/11/2008) Assessing Child Support Arrears in Nine Large States and the Nation This report written by Elaine Sorensen, Liliana Sousa, and Simon
Schaner of the In the nine study states, the obligors who owed over $30,000
in arrears were quite For a copy of the full report online go to: The Implementation of the Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects This report discusses the national demonstration project intended
to effect systems change, Some of the key findings:
For a copy of the full report go to::
(1/3/2008) Racial Disparity and Incarceration for Drug Offenses A report released in December by the Justice Policy Institute “The Vortex: The Concentrated Impact of Drug Imprisonment and the Characteristics of Punitive Counties.” discusses the increase in the incarceration of drug offenders. The report combined data from multiple sources to calculate county-level of admission to state prisons for drug offenses. Selected findings:
For a complete copy of the report, please go to:
(11/21/2007) Black and White Economic Mobility A recent report issued by The Economic Mobility Project , an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts investigated the status of economic mobility in America. The three reports were authored by Julia B. Issacs, Child and Family Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institute. The first report examines how families have done over the last thirty years, while the remaining reports examine mobility by race and gender. Selected findings of the studies were:
For copies of the reports go to: http://www.economicmobility.org/reports_and_research/.
(10/11/2007) Debt while Imprisoned A new study commissioned by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and produced by the Council of State Governments Justice Center entitled “Repaying Debts” describes cases of newly released inmates who have been greeted with as much as $25,000 in debt the moment they step outside the prison gate. An interesting finding that was highlighted in the editorial section of the New York Times (10/6/07) on the report was that the majority of the debt is composed of child support obligations that mount while the imprisoned parent has no income. For a copy of the report go to the Justice Center, Council of State Government website: http://justicecenter.csg.org/.
(7/12/2007) Relationship of Crime and Employment MDRC has released a new issue paper on the intersection of employment
and crime.
For a copy of the MDRC issue brief and other related reports
go to http://www.mdrc.org/area_issue_23.html (issue
focus)
(6/7/2007) Poverty-wage work According to the State of Working Wisconsin 2006 report, workers who earn less than $9.52 per hour in 2005 dollars, cannot make enough money to keep a family of four out of poverty. The share of workers in poverty-wage jobs in Wisconsin in 2005 was: White men: 14.6 percent The State of Working Wisconsin 2006 tells a compelling story about the status of jobs and workers in Wisconsin: job growth and rising incomes, along with sharp inequalities along economic and racial lines. To order a printed copy of the State of Working Wisconsin, please email cows-info@cows.org.
(5/3/2007) A recent New York Times article, titled In Turnabout, Infant Deaths Climb in South, by Erik Eckholm, details the growing incidence of infant mortality deaths in Mississippi. For decades, Mississippi and neighboring states with large black populations and expanses of enduring poverty made steady progress in reducing infant death. However, in recent years the death rate has risen in Mississippi and several other states. The setbacks have raised questions about the impact of cuts in welfare and medicaid and poor access to doctors, and related health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. The current rate of infant mortality is 17 per thousand births in 2005 from 14.2 per thousand in 2004 while infant deaths among whites rose to 6.6 per thousand from 6.1. in Mississippi while in the U.S. the average was 5.7 for whites and 14.0 for blacks in 2003. For more detailed information, read the April 22, 2007 issue of the New York Times.
(3/15/2007) Black male joblessness takes rare fall: Milwaukee has posted a small and rare decrease in its extreme rate of black male joblessness. This finding is documented in a recently released report titled The Crisis of Black Male Joblessness in Milwaukee: Trends, Explanations, and Policy Options by Marc Levine. Levine, Director of the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, reported that 44.1% of the working age African-American men in the city had no job in 2005, down from 47.3% in the 2000 census. Despite these findings, Milwaukee remains near the bottom of 14 comparable Midwest-Northeast metropolitan areas surveyed. A full copy of the report can be obtained at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CED/
(1/22/2007)
(12/18/2006) A recent study reported that applicants for welfare in Wisconsin have not received the help they need to overcome barriers to work and the vast majority remain below the poverty line years after applying for assistance. The research was conducted by Dr. Mark Courtney, McCormick Tribune Professor at the School of Social Service Administration and his colleagues at the Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago. Highlights of the Report from the Washington Post:
For a full copy of the report, go to http://www.about.chapinhall.org/contact/contact.html.
(8/7/2006) A recent Brookings Institution report confirms that low-income families pay more for the exact same consumer products as higher-income families. According to the report:
The authors suggest that curbing unscrupulous business practices that take advantage of the poor, promoting mainstream businesses in lower income neighborhoods and providing financial education to low-income households would allow low-income families to save and reduce their cost of living, providing an economic boost to the families and neighborhoods. The study is available at http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060718_PovOp.pdf.
(3/6/2006) FAST FACTS
(2/2/2006) ONLY THOSE AT TOP OF WAGE SCALE AND CORPORATIONS PROFITING
These facts taken from a report by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute using statistics from the Bureau of Labor statistics. To learn more about this topic go to http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/ib218.
(1/5/2006) Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina Continue to Experience Discrimination: One study of rental practices in five states by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that of those forced to evacuate because of Hurricane Katrina:
To learn more about this study and housing and rental discrimination in general visit http://www.nationalfairhousing.org/.
(12/8/2005) Economic Impact of Domestic Violence:
These statistics are taken from www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/07/dv_stats.html. At this site are more statistics on the impact of domestic violence.
(11/24/2005) A new Center for Budget Policy and Priority report finds that government data shows that:
To read this report by Arloc Sherman and Isaac Shapiro go to www.cbpp.org.
A new study by the Legal Service Corporation (LSC) finds that:
The full report is available at http://www.lsc.gov/pressr/releases/101705pr.htm.
(9/29/2005) Economists proclaim that we are in an economic recovery. Yet it, more than any other past economic recovery, has helped the rich more than the poor:
These facts and figures taken from http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/28/news/economy/millionaire_survey/index.htm and http://www.cbpp.org/8-30-05pov.htm.
(8/30/2005) Facts about children and poverty:
These facts taken from PovertyUSA.org. To get the facts about the economic choices a family living in poverty faces visit http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour.htm.
(7/5/2005) Medicaid is a government-funded program that provides health insurance to many low-income families regardless of their age. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey about this program found that:
To find out more about this survey go to http://www.kff.org/.
(6/9/2005) A new survey investigated dating abuse among American teenagers. The reports of abuse extend across suburbs, cities and regions and all ethnic groups. Key findings from the study include:
To learn more about this survey go to www.loveisnotabuse.com/surveyresults_teens.htm.
(5/8/2005) An analysis of government data by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds:
This study is available at www.rwjf.org.
(3/28/2005) A new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzing Congressional Budget Office data finds that “Income is now more concentrated at the very top of the income spectrum than in all but six years since the mid-1930s.” This report found:
The report by Isaac Shapiro is available at www.cbpp.org.
(2/16/2005) According to a report by CLASP, the president’s budget estimates that 300,000 fewer low-income children will receive child care assistance under its budget by 2010. The president’s budget would freeze child care funding for 2006 and keep funding at this level until 2010. According to a CLASP analysis, this severely underestimates the actual number of low-income children that will lose child care assistance because of the president’s budget. This report notes the importance of child care assistance to parents being able to maintain employment. The report is entitled “President’s Budget Projects 300,000 Low-Income Children to Lose Child Care by 2010” and is available at www.clasp.org.
(1/6/2005) The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report entitled Hunger, Crowding, and Other Hardships are Widespread among Families in Poverty. This report analyzed two United States government studies and found that: Half of poor families face multiple hardships each year: 52 percent faced two or more of 14 distinct hardships examined by HHS relating to basic needs and safe, adequate housing. Thirty-seven percent faced three or more distinct hardships. Only 7 percent of non-poor families with incomes above twice the poverty line faced three or more distinct hardships. This report, which also documents other hardships caused by poverty, is available at www.cbpp.org.
(12/21/2004) A new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, www.nlihc.org, finds that:
(11/23/2004) HUNGER FACTS Increasing numbers of families are hungry because of poverty. According to a United States Department of Agricultural report:
(10/20/2004) MANY VETERANS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE Findings from a new study by Harvard Medical School researchers:
To read more about this study go to the website of Physicians for a National Health Program at www.pnhp.org.
(9/27/2004) UNEMPLOYED STAYING UNEMPLOYED Last year, more than 43% of people did not have a job when their state unemployment insurance had run out. This represents the highest rate of benefit "exhaustion" in six decades, according to a U.S. Department of Labor study. When you combine this with the exhaustion rate of 2002, the United States had the highest two-year peak in this measure since 1940 and ’41. This was when the country had just experienced the Great Depression. To learn more about this issue visit the Economic Policy Institute website at http://www.epinet.org/.
(8/31/2004) INCOME GAP WIDENS FOR U.S. FAMILIES A new report finds that This data is taken from a new report entitled THE NEW, DEFINITIVE CBO DATA ON INCOME AND TAX TRENDS and is available at www.cbpp.org.  (7/14/2004) TANF NOT RESPONSIVE TO INCREASED JOBLESSNESS AND POVERTY • During the recent recession the employment
rate of single mothers fell at a greater rate than other parents
and the population as a whole. The rate, however, is higher than
in the mid-1990s. Yet for families eligible for TANF cash assistance—families typically well below the poverty line—the proportion who actually receives TANF continues to fall in the recession year of 2001. Less than one out of every two eligible TANF families actually received it. For more information about this topic visit www.cbpp.org. (5/27/2004) A report by Catholic Charities entitled “What’s for Dinner? Food Insecurity and Hunger in a Nation of Plenty” points out that: • Over 33 million Americans do not have an adequate supply
of food. This report is available in the publications section at http://www.catholiccharities.net. (5/3/2004) FACTS ABOUT SPENDING ON MILITARY VERSUS REDUCING POVERTY:
From “World Bank Laments Poverty” written by Reuters and posted on cnn.com. (4/27/2004) The National Urban League unveiled its first “Equality Index” a statistical measurement of the disparities that exist between blacks and whites. Some samples from the findings:
Statistics taken from National Urban League’s Report that Shows Black Progress Is On Shaky Ground and that Equality Gaps Remain In Jobs, Wealth, Education, Health And Social Justice. More information about this and the report is available at www.nul.org. (4/5/2004) A profile of the New York City labor market conducted by the Community Service Society of New York used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey to estimate average unemployment and jobholding for New York residents. The report estimates that in 2003, barely half (51.8%) of New York's Black men were employed, compared to 75.7% of White men residing in the city. This employment-population ratio includes all residents who are jobless, regardless of the reason. The unemployment rate, in contrast, counts only those who are actively looking for work. Between 2000 and 2003, the Black unemployment rate grew by 5.3%, to 12.9% - the highest rate among the city's largest race/ethnic groups. The unemployment rate for Whites grew by 2.6%, to 6.2%. In 2000, 18.6% of unemployed New York residents had been out of work for 40 weeks or more. Long-term unemployment climbed over subsequent three years, and in 2003 26.9% of the unemployed had been jobless for 40 weeks or more. Source: Community Service Society, A Crisis of Black Male Employment, February, 2004. (3/1/2004) “Section 8” housing vouchers assists two million low-income households. The program helps working families, elderly people, or people with disabilities. The Bush Administration’s new budget would cut this program by more than $1 billion in 2005. This would cut the number of families assisted by up to 250,000 in 2005 and up to 800,000 or 40% of all assisted families by 2009. The budget also would replace the voucher program with a block grant to local housing agencies. It would repeal basic protections for low-income families. For more information on this topic visit www.cbpp.org and read the article “ADMINISTRATION SEEKS DEEP CUTS IN HOUSING VOUCHERS AND CONVERSION OF PROGRAM TO A BLOCK GRANT” from which these statistics were taken by Barbara Sard and Will Fischer. (1/22/2004) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a one-third reduction in the percentage of uninsured low-income children between 1997 and 2002. This was due to enrollment in State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) and Medicaid. Still roughly 6.8 million children in families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line remain uninsured. Now six states have stopped enrolling eligible children in their SCHIP. The waiting list in Florida, one of the six states to freeze enrollment, for SCHIP contained more than 44,000 eligible children as of November 14. This causes these families “to grapple with the hardships they confront when they cannot obtain medical attention their children need.” Figures and quote from “OUT IN THE COLD: Enrollment Freezes in Six State Children's Health Insurance Programs Withhold Coverage from Eligible Children” available at www.cbpp.org. (12/17/2003) Administration officials have stated that the pending TANF legislation, which provides $1 billion in new federal funding of child care, has adequate money for child care needs:
Figures and quote from “ADMINISTRATION IS MISSTATING AMOUNT OF CHILD CARE FUNDING IN PENDING TANF REAUTHORIZATION BILLS” available at www.clasp.org (11/7/2003) Increasing numbers of families are hungry because of poverty. According to a United States Department of Agriculture report:
(10/10/2003) Race continues to play a dominant role in shaping employment opportunities, equal to or greater than a criminal record. In a study white and black applicants with identical backgrounds found that:
Other findings from this study entitled “The Mark of A Criminal Record” by Devah Pager are available at http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/2002-05.pdf. (9/29/2003) In a new chartbook, the Kaiser Family Foundation details the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on African-Americans. Blacks make up 12% of the nation's population, but account for more than half of new HIV infections every year. HIV is the leading cause of death for African-Americans age 25-44, but the 5th leading cause for whites in that age group. The AIDS case rate for African-Americans in 2001 was 76.3 per 100,000, compared to 7.9 per 100,000 for whites. African-American adolescents, who represent 15% of U.S. teenagers, make up 61% of new AIDS cases among adolescents. Inadequate access to quality health care compounds these problems. The report can be found at www.kff.org. (7/28/2003) A new Center for Law and Social Policy report entitled Boom Times: a Bust for Less Educated Young Men finds that
The report calls for expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, increasing the minimum wage, setting realistic child support orders, creating public jobs for youths, developing quality job training programs, and improving pre-and post-release assistance for prisoners. To obtain a copy of this report visit www.clasp.org. (7/3/2003) A new paper from the Joint Center for Poverty Research, Children of Incarcerated Parents, examines the fate of children whose parents go to prison. Elizabeth I. Johnson and Jane Waldfogel identify eight risk factors for such children and explore the impact of maternal and paternal incarceration on children. When a father is incarcerated, the child will live with their mother 77% of the time. When a mother is imprisoned, however, only 17% of children live with their fathers; most live with grandparents or other relatives. See www.jcpr.org. (6/5/2003) The new tax law provides parents with a check of $400 per child this summer. Yet the law excludes the 12 million families whose income is between $10,500 and $26,625. The cost of including low-income families in the bill would have been $3.5 billion. This equals one percent of the official cost of the final bill. This tax policy is questioned in the article entitled WAS THERE ENOUGH ROOM IN THE TAX BILL FOR THE LOW-INCOME CHILD TAX CREDIT PROVISION? by Isaac Shapiro and Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. To read this article and learn more about how this tax bill impacts low-income families visit www.cbpp.org. (4/15/2003) 79% of Americans believe the Constitution guarantees a poor person a free lawyer in a civil case. Yet 62-89% of family law cases involve people without a lawyer.
(3/12/2003)
“It is important to remember that imprisonment does not directly
reflect crime, but also political decisions, and that imprisonment
feeds back into poverty and, thus, into the causes of crime.”
Professor Pamela Oliver University of Wisconsin. Figures taken from
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~oliver/RACIAL/Racialdisparitiesresearch.htm (11/25/2002) A fact sheet on the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the transmission of the AIDS virus has been removed from the Centers for Disease Control web site. The federal Department of Health and Human Services has also recently issued an order to review all grants to federally funded groups that are providing AIDS prevention, treatment, and research. According to some AIDS prevention activists, these actions, as well as the Bush administration's aggressive promotion of abstinence-only education may be putting young people and minorities at increased risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Women's eNews, October 5th, 2002. Feds to Audit AIDS Groups for Sexual Explicitness. www.womensenews.org. Washington Post, October 1st, 2002; Page A6. Bush Policies Hurt AIDS Prevention, Group Says. www.washingtonpost.com (10/15/2002) Abortion rate soars for low-income women The abortion rate rose drastically by more than 20% from 1994-2000 for women whose incomes were below the federal poverty line. The overall abortion rate for women in the United States fell 11% for this same time period. This information is based on a study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute and can be found at http://www.agi-usa.org. (6/12/2002) According to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, $1.4 billion in child support was collected for families on welfare assistance in fiscal year 2000. Of this, only $165 million (12%) actually went to the families, and $1.2 billion was retained by the government as reimbursement for assistance. And the government spent $1 to collect each 57 cents of this child support. |
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