Research
The Reagan Revolution
Published May 28, 2009 @ 03:29PM PT
We're still feeling its effects today. I'm doing some dissertation research and I'm reading the book description of "Poverty and Power: The Political Representation of Poor Americans." Here's a stat I've long been looking for:
In 1981 alone, 70 percent of the $35 billion cut from the federal budget came from programs for the poor.
It goes on to talk about the "Reagan/Bush agenda," which seems fitting for George W. much more so than George H.W., wouldn't you say?
The high point of the 1980s, according to this book?
His findings delineate how electoral policy and economic change in the 1980s posed a direct threat to the welfare of the poor, and suggest reasons why no massive mobilization for social justice emerged. Still, the dogged efforts of advocates and activists culminated in the passage of the 1987 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the first positive federal intervention into domestic social policy since the Reagan inauguration.
Discuss.
Welcome Back!
Published May 26, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
I can tell from my Google Analytics that most of you enjoyed a lovely weekend away from the web. Good for you! It was lovely up here in Boston.
But now you're back at work (sigh), so here's a round-up of our weekend here at Poverty in America, to help you ease back into the work week:
Iraq & Afghanistan vets and their loved ones deserve our care and support - and a coalition of agencies is responding.
From working-class roots to the White House, Michelle Obama steps out as a role model for low-income children of color.
What was NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg thinking, appointing a former Wall St exec to run the city's public housing authority?
Meanwhile, Florida refuses to re-consider its boom-and-bust development economy.
Finally, support the Employee Free Choice Act! In a random sample of over 1,000 union organizing drives, employers threatened to shut plants down almost 60% of the time.
I'll catch up with you this afternoon. Any excellent weekend stories, leave 'em in comments.
More Proof That We Need the Employee Free Choice Act
Published May 23, 2009 @ 07:39AM PT
Remind me again why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important, you ask:
"A new study by a Cornell University professor of 1,004 union organizing drives has found that employers threatened to close plants in 57 percent of the campaigns and threatened to cut wages and benefits in 47 percent.
The study, to be released Wednesday, also found that employers fired pro-union workers in 34 percent of the campaigns. And it asserted that management’s antiunion tactics had helped pushed down the unionization rate to 12.4 percent, from 22 percent three decades ago."
That's why.
Is it just me, or is 22% not even that satisfying?
This is a post more suited for the last long weekend of the summer, Labor Day. But let's not forget the organizing work and support that we need to give to the EFCA in these coming months. I live in a pretty pro-union state and city, and come from a union family, more or less. I know that unions can become a problem unto themselves, when they sacrifice the good of all their workers for a few, and that many of the unions have a history of racism and exclusion. But enforcing workers' rights and encouraging unionization is key to reducing poverty; we'd be better served as a society if we worked to strengthen unions - including their internal practices - rather than trying to eliminate them outright.
We need to respect the rights of workers, the value of labor in business, and the benefits of collective action. Think about it as you hopefully get a reprieve from your own hard work this long weekend.
Tell Congress and President Obama to support the Employee Free Choice Act today!
Report: One in Six Children in the U.S. Are Hungry
Published May 14, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
A new report (pdf) released last week by Feeding America claims that one in six young children (those who are five-years-old and younger) in 26 U.S. states face a constant threat of food insecurity. That adds up to 3.5 million young children in this country who do not have adequate access to healthy food.
The statistics in the report—Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2005 – 2007—were compiled using data collected by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).
Perhaps an even more disturbing statistic is that the rate of food insecurity in young children is 33 percent higher than the rate experienced by U.S. adults, where only one in eight live at risk of hunger. I personally find it deeply troubling that there are so many hungry children in this country who don’t have the ability to provide for themselves.
Questions to Ask When Designing an Anti-Poverty Project
Published May 05, 2009 @ 09:48AM PT
Last night my boyfriend and I had dinner with an old college friend of mine, who's really thrilled about a new effort she's working on with Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee. As she laid out their initiative, including target clients, target audience, etc., I found myself wanting to pepper her with questions, some of which I got out. (It sounds really exciting, btw.)
In the spirit of sharing, the following is a non-exhaustive list of things I think we should ask ourselves when we're considering new anti-poverty efforts:
