Poverty News Round-up
Published October 20, 2009 @ 01:25PM PT
Too many interesting tabs open in my browser to select just one story today. Here's the latest on poverty news and activism happening around the US:
- Thank you feds! For stepping in and telling Indiana that allowing private employers to use welfare data to screen potential employees is "inappropriate" and "not allowed." Ya think?
- If port cities Oakland and Long Beach, CA, have such similar demographic profiles, including lots of poverty, why is crime so much worse in Oakland? It's unclear, but fortunately there's a new police chief in town to try and reverse the city's terrifying trends.
- We've come a long way from the days of "No Irish Need Apply" - AG Andrew Cuomo in NY has charged EMC Construction with exploiting its workers, including using a three-tiered wage system for Irish ($25/hour), Black ($18/hour) and Latin@ ($15/hour) workers. Nothing encourages worker solidarity like abusive wage gaps!
- Mayor Bloomberg is creating jobs in NYC, but are they good jobs? The short answer: No.
- What the state gives, the market taketh away. Bloomberg builds or preserves 72k low-income housing units, 200k disappear due to vague and mysterious "market forces." Don't look under your beds at night, kiddies!
- And finally, let this be a lesson to other states: Indiana is pulling the plug on privatizing its welfare system, after thousands of eligible recipients lost benefits. One old measure they're bringing back in? Face-to-face interactions between recipients and case workers. Good to see we haven't quite eliminated jobs as we insist TANF recipients go find some.
(Photo of A.M. Walzer Co. US Inlay Puzzle Map by Marxchivist)
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Comments (2)
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Author
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Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.
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Repeal the Hyde Amendment!
Wow that's a lot and you still missed one. Did you catch the bit about how there's finally been a comparison between the Federal Poverty Line figures and the National Academy of Sciences figures in figuring how many live in poverty here in the US? Not only is there a difference of easily about 8 MILLION people, but it shows that according to the NAS method we're missing many in groups like the elderly who "don't count" because they've got lots of expenses in areas like out of pocket medical care, people in high cost of living areas, and even ethnic groups we don't usually think about - as well as perhaps slightly overcounting kids because of how we count their parents. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33395012/ns/us_news-life
Posted by Danetta Amschler on 10/21/2009 @ 05:25PM PT
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You gave us a lot to talk about, while you enjoy time with your new husband.
The Point about jobs I looked up the article you got that from. Yes big box sales personal is not a notriously well paying profession.
And the only Building professional who work for themselves, or hire people to work for them are well paid. They get a bit more than the sales personal but most not enough to pay the rent until they have many years on the job. Landlords rarely wait years for their rent payments.
Danetta I think even the National Academy of Sciences, who could be one of the groups to figure out this NEW measure of poverty, is way off. Half to 70% of all Americans are not paid enough to cover their unavoidable human bills.
If they can not cover the basics, of rent, food, medical, heat utilities, they have not been paid enough. They are in poverty-Unable to meet basic human needs.
We have to form the groups and tell Obama what we need. Harming no person, we need to non-violently tear up the intra-structure, and tell them to fix the system right
There are at least 3 times the number of poor as the government counts. That would be 140 million. Poverty is created by human design. We consider some jobs trash, so paid BADLY, and unfortunately some consider the people who do the trash jobs as trash themselves.
We are not trash!!!!
If Leigh is taking a vacation does that mean we get more of Greg's Food talk? I hope the Aussie Social Worker will write.
I loved to, it would reign me in a bit. I would have to show my work. Perhaps its just not intended for me to be an author here.
Oh good news. Today I good a middle class organization in Maine, to look into the Utilities Poverty Level Pending before Congress. And at a Nov 6th conference I will be telling people about it.
One other thing is Change is listed as speaking out om House bill HR 2909. I like being a small part of Change.org. I use it to educate in the real world.
Bed time.
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 10/21/2009 @ 07:54PM PT
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