Children
50% of Americans Lack Sick Leave
Published September 29, 2009 @ 03:20PM PT
With a vaccine for the H1N1 virus still some time away, the lack of paid sick leave for almost half of all working Americans in the private sector is a potential public health crisis. Not only are these working adults likely to show up at work with potential infectious symptoms - or fear losing their job - they are likely to send sick kids to school for the same reason. Why is this on the Poverty blog?
Nationwide, the same trend holds: The proportions of workers without paid leave are higher in lower-wage industries, including food service, nursing care, and retail workers.
These are the folks we interact with on a regular basis - the person handing you your coffee or your morning bagel; the woman coming to care for your already infirm grandmother in her home.
I'm so sick of the argument that basic government regulation that protects public health and minimizes worker exploitation is bad for small business. I paraphrase a good corporate friend on Facebook - if you can't afford to pay your workers a living wage or benefits, you have a bad business model. And I'll add: as anti-poverty and economic justice advocates, we'd be happy to work with you to fight for a more equitable business climate for your small company.
15 states and cities are currently working on paid sick leave bills. Check them out and find out how you can support on-going campaigns.
Photo "Children with message in support of Paid Sick Days, Milwaukee - 2008" by Voces de La Frontera)
Our Broken Child Support System
Published September 25, 2009 @ 05:05AM PT
My morning coffee discussion with a friend went from scoffing about an upcoming wedding of a friend's nephew that was going to eat up $100k to the fact that at least 50% of marriages end in divorce to the hot topic of the child support system. My take is that it's broken. Many, on both sides of the system, will agree, with differing opinions on who's to blame.
This week in rain-soaked Atlanta is a premiere of a documentary, "Support? System Down," focusing on
the fundamental flaws in America's Family Courts regarding the Divorce and Child Support System. The film explores the problems through over 38 interviews with both custodial and non-custodial parents and the attorneys, judges and county employees on both sides of the paradigm.
The system's failures can spill out in violence, as in a recent fatal shooting in a trailer court in GA allegedly over child support. Hopefully the film will generate attention on a hot, neglected, issue--one that causes poverty and homelessness, often for moms and kids, but sometimes dads too.
Incomes Up 14% through Opportunity NYC
Published September 22, 2009 @ 10:03AM PT
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hosting the Organization of American States today to discuss anti-poverty initiatives in the Americas. Featured at the meeting with be the City of New York's Opportunity NYC, a program of conditional cash transfers to low-income families to reward them for specific behaviors: attending school, attending doctor's appointments, working full-time, etc. The Bloomberg Administration, which launched the initiative as one of many anti-poverty programs managed collectively through its Center for Economic Opportunity, has renewed the program for a third year.
The program is both promising and controversial for providing what many deem paternalistic incentives that isolate behavior as the reason households are poor. I agree. But let's face it: Opportunity NYC is increasing annual household incomes by as much as 14% per year. Do we really want to condemn such a result?
The Learning Curve Express
Published September 19, 2009 @ 09:35AM PT
Anyone who knows me knows I wouldn't easily give up an opportunity like guest blogging at Poverty in America. But HEAR US Inc.'s LEARNING CURVE EXPRESS, my daunting next venture, will keep me busy as I film short interviews with homeless kids and parents who don't count (by HUD's standards), living doubled-up and/or in motels. I will do my best to connect these homeless constituents with their (often clueless) legislators because Congress needs to learn much more about this topic.
Giving voice and visibility to homeless kids is what HEAR US is about, knowing they are their own best spokespersons. They more than proved it in our award-winning documentary, "My Own Four Walls." For the next 6-7 months I'll be traveling backroads in my bug-splattered RV, posting short clips depicting the bleak lives and the great hopes of the hidden and uncounted homeless families and teen population.
I hope to keep up with my PIA duties, but regardless will invite interested persons to take a peek at my travels and tribulations which I'll post on the HEAR US website, incl. at Change.org. Please join us in fighting for the rights and resources for homeless families in the US!
(Photo by author)
Too Poor for Pets
Published September 18, 2009 @ 05:08AM PT
Those of us in the trenches with people in poverty continually think of ways to get our nation's leaders and lawmakers to pay attention. We don't want to think they just don't care; they're just, um, busy. How can we get their attention? If only poverty was...cuter? Let me throw out a few provocative poverty bones to chew on:
- Pets. Millions of pet owners in America can't afford to care for their furry friends. Yeah, feeding them and the basic veterinary activities is expensive, but what gets way out of whack is when Fido or Fluffy gets sick. One of my dog-friends, Elijah, is having some serious budget-busting health issues. At the moment, his owner can come up with payments, but not for long term. Tough spot to be in. I dunno, maybe we can use pet health care as a campaign, and then segue into human health care.
- Pet Health Insurance-you gotta know the insurance agencies are all over this cash cow. September is National Pet Health Insurance month.
- Numbers tell the story--the number of Change.org Animal Rights members is 3X the PIA members. My solution--give the homeless and poor people pets! Better yet, get more PIA members.
In all seriousness, homelessness, my issue of choice, needs to be seen as a poverty crisis, not just a "bum under the bridge" problem. It's a national concern, not just urban in nature, that affects more kids/families than single adults. And readers with a strong memory can quote me on this a year from now... I'm betting my lunch money that those on the edge of poverty, or those mired in it, will be in worse shape before (if) things get better. Kudos to NYT's Erik Eckholm and Arianna Huffington for their recent efforts to call attention to homeless kids!
Politics and poverty go hand-in-hand. Sadly, those in politics tend to know very little about the hurt of poverty (and less about homelessness). Policymakers are probably happy that few pay much attention to this growing issue. Watch out for the HEAR US Learning Curve Express!!
photos by the author
1 in 5 Elderly are Poor
Published September 05, 2009 @ 10:38AM PT
When calculating poverty using the modernized measure from the National Academy of Sciences, the number of older adults living in poverty is nearly double the official rate. The whole article is worth reading for the ways current poverty numbers - among children, single mothers, in cities, etc. - would change if we updated the federal poverty measure.
Everyday that I blog I find more features, reports, news items, etc. than I can possibly cover here. But I don't want to let these stories slip by. So consider this your weekend afternoon news dump on poverty in the U.S.
Keep Poverty on the Agenda
Published August 30, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
With the death of Sen. Kennedy and the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina both happening this week, the topic of poverty was fresh in the public's mind. In eulogizing Kennedy, most of us could take pride in remembering his service to "working people" everywhere, his commitment to poverty reduction over the life of his career. With Katrina, it is also about a job unfinished, but with a much less nostalgic, sweet glow - the enduring problems of blight, housing insecurity, racial inequality and poverty are glaring, graphic, and depressing.
Whether you're motivated to action by the inspiring good works of folks like Senator Kennedy, or fueled by a sense of outrage over injustice, this past week offered plenty of reminders that poverty is a persistent, entrenched, political problem for which solutions exist. Investments in early childhood education pay lifetime dividends. Economic boycotts and union movements highlight workers' rights and benefits. Providing childcare, fair pay, and extensive family leave policies give mothers better opportunities to compete economically and earn enough to care for their families. And universal health care bankrupts neither households nor the entire medical system.
Change.org is just one platform where you can commit (and re-commit) to fighting poverty in the U.S. To start, let's begin by keeping poverty on the public agenda - as a problem we can and must solve. Let's not let it slip away as our weekend tributes wrap up. As Uncle Teddy and 15k volunteers in New Orleans remind us, the cause endures and the work goes on.
("Not Everyone in SF is Rich..." by Son of Groucho)
