A wealth of data, July 29, 2010, The Economist: “What is poverty and when is a person poor? Most would agree that poverty involves not having enough of certain things, or doing without others that richer people take for granted. But what is ‘enough’, which goods and services really matter, and who should decide these questions-researchers, governments or international agencies-are less tractable issues. Perhaps the poor themselves should have the final word. But this presents its own problems. Tabitha, a 44-year-old woman from a slum outside Nairobi, told researchers from Oxford University that going without meals was ‘normal for us’. Diminished expectations are only one of the effects of dire poverty. In the world of international development, most have rallied around the ‘dollar-a-day’ poverty line (or more precisely, the $1.25-a-day measure) and its less acute cousin, $2-a-day poverty. These World Bank measures judge a person to be poor if his income falls short of a given level, adjusted for differences in purchasing power. In principle poverty rates based on these measures count the fraction of people in a country who lack the resources to buy a notional, basic basket of goods…”
Daily Archives: July 30, 2010
Voter Registration at Public Assistance Agencies
Welfare agencies boost voters, By Richard Wolf, July 22, 2010, USA Today: “The recession that impoverished millions of Americans is producing a side effect: new voters. Lawsuits by voting rights groups in Missouri and Ohio have led hundreds of thousands of people to file voter registration applications at welfare agencies, as mandated by the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, or the ‘motor voter’ law. Cases pending in Indiana, New Mexico and other states, as well as new Justice Department guidelines, probably will boost those figures. Voting rights advocates say millions of low-income people could be registered this way. A U.S. Election Assistance Commission report in 2007-08 showed 21 states registered less than 1% of voters at welfare offices. Only Vermont, Tennessee and New York registered more than 4% that way…”
Census Small Area Health Insurance Estimates
- Census data reveal broad differences among states in rates of uninsured, By Lena H. Sun, July 28, 2010, Washington Post: “New census data released Tuesday confirm a huge spread in the rate of uninsured from state to state and the big difference in impact that can be expected as a result of the health-care overhaul recently passed by Congress. The statistics are for 2007 and show health insurance coverage by state and for each of the country’s roughly 3,140 counties. The numbers do not include the impact on millions of people who lost their jobs and health insurance after the recession began in December 2007. The 2007 snapshot shows that Massachusetts, which has achieved near-universal coverage, had the lowest rate of uninsured people under age 65, about 7.8 percent. States with the highest rates of uninsured were in the South and West: Texas was at the top, with 26.8 percent, followed by New Mexico (26.7 percent) and Florida (24.2 percent)…”
- 2007 data show state had 6.5 million uninsured, By Victoria Colliver, July 30, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “More than one fifth of Californians went without health insurance in 2007, with Bay Area counties having some of the lowest rates of uninsured people in the state, according to statistics released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, which looked at every county in the nation, found that 20.2 percent of Californians were uninsured in 2007. The counties in California with the highest rates of residents without health insurance – Mono, Colusa, Monterey – tended to be smaller, rural or more reliant on agriculture than other regions…”
Long-Term Unemployment and Health Insurance Coverage
Unemployment extension 101: how health care is affected, By Ron Scherer, July 29, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “When President Obama signed the six month federal extension of unemployment insurance, one item not included was an extension of the subsidy for health insurance for newly laid-off workers. That means that as of June 1, thousands of workers are either paying out most of their unemployment checks for health coverage under ‘COBRA,’ or just not getting covered. COBRA, which is administered by the Department of Labor, allows for unemployed individuals to continue to get group health insurance from their former employer who had been subsidizing their coverage. But, they must pay the whole cost of the insurance, plus a 2 percent administrative fee, making the insurance expensive. Advocates for the unemployed say Congress’ decision not to help out those who have lost their employer-subsidized health care is forcing families to put off getting health care if they need it, and is putting even greater pressure on emergency room facilities. Opponents say the benefits extension is expensive if not paid for, and it doesn’t fix the underlying problem – getting people a stable source of health-care insurance…”
June 2010 US Metro Unemployment
Unemployment rises in 75 pct of metro areas, By Christopher S. Rugaber (AP), July 28, 2010, Washington Post: “The unemployment rate in about three-quarters of the nation’s largest metro areas rose last month as nearly one million teenagers entered the work force looking for summer jobs. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the unemployment rate rose in 291 of 374 areas in June from May. It fell in 55 areas and was flat in 28. That reverses the trend of the previous three months, when joblessness fell in most metro areas. But the report does not adjust the figures to take into account seasonal trends, such as high school or college students looking for work during the summer. As a result the figures tend to be volatile from month to month…”
Aging Out of Foster Care
- Governor signs bill to assist children aging out of foster care, By Doug Denison, July 20, 2010, Dover Post: ” Children aging out of the foster care system now have access to greater protections under the law thanks to legislation signed June 14 by Gov. Jack Markell. Under Senate Bill 113, former foster children between the ages of 18 and 21 will now be allowed to petition Family Court and continue to work with the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families to get help with housing, employment, education and health care. Court-appointed child advocates, former guardians and the foster children themselves will be able to bring cases to Family Court that weren’t previously within its jurisdiction. In the last fiscal year, 94 Delaware foster children aged out of the system, putting in jeopardy their ability to continue to receive various kinds of federal- and state-funded assistance. Ten years ago, half as many children were in that position…”
- Foster kids at 18 aren’t ready to go it alone in the world, By Kathy Markeland, July 24, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Each year, more than 7,000 Wisconsin children are removed from their parents’ homes and placed in foster care. Most of these children will live with relatives or foster parents for a short time and then be reunited with their families. Sometimes families can’t be reunited and children are connected to new families through adoption. But for up to 600 young people in Wisconsin each year, their stay in foster care ends when they turn 18 and ‘age out’ of their foster home. They ‘age out’ of the system that promised to protect them. The national data on the experiences of youths that age out of the foster care system are grim. Compared to their peers in the general population, these young people have a higher incidence of physical and mental health needs, yet are less likely to have health care coverage…”