Tag Archives: Economic Security and Opportunity
Child Care Cuts Would Batter Working Families
This post was coauthored by Sessy Nyman, vice president for policy and strategic partnerships at Illinois Action for Children.
There is no other way to describe it — the state budget proposals in Springfield are a disaster for working …
What Did Congress Do to Combat Poverty in 2011?
The number of people in poverty has risen to unparalleled levels. According the most recent Census Bureau data, there were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 (an increase of 2.6 million). In other words, more…
Persistent Long-Term Unemployment Demands Extension of Critical Federal Unemployment Benefits for Jobless Workers
Congress has recently reached a compromise on a measure to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits through the end of the year, which will keep 3.3 million long-term unemployed individuals from losing a critical lifeline. Without the compromise,…
Chicago: The Most Segregated City in the Country
America overall is more integrated than ever, and all-white neighborhoods are virtually extinct. Gentrification, immigration, migration to the suburbs, and the tearing down of public housing all have contributed to desegregation over the past decade. H…
Pennsylvania Should Drop Food Stamp Asset Limit
Families must be able to save money in order to achieve self-sufficiency and prosper. Unfortunately, the federal government often forgets this common-sense principal.
Many public benefits programs—like cash welfare or Medicaid—limit e…
Ensuring Access to Safe Drinking Water for All
What’s most important to sustaining human life? Arguably it’s water. In fact, the United Nations recognized the human right “to safe and clean drinking water” through a resolution in 2010.
California law recognizes the right, …
America’s Income Gap: Migration to Elections
The 2010 Census data released this past September showed that the income gap between Americans is widening. More specifically, the income gap between blacks and whites widened such that the average white worker’s income was about 1.7 times higher…
Now Is the Time to Raise the Minimum Wage
We need jobs that keep people out of poverty, not in it! Raising the minimum wage is good common sense—people who work for a living should make enough money to provide for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, that’s not the case ri…
Welfare: Why Don’t They Get It?
The “Welfare” Reform Proposal
Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), along with seven other Senate Republican co-sponsors, has introduced the misleadingly titled bill, The Welfare Reform Act of 2011 (H.R. 1167). The bill is an attempt to hark back …
Illinois’ Unemployment Rate To Grow by 5% Unless Congress Extends Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program by End of 2011
Illinois will lose 27,000 jobs in 2012, and its unemployment rate will increase from 10% to 10.5%, unless Congress approves extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, according to the Economic Policy Institute. EPI’s project…
