- Majority of new jobs pay low wages, study finds, By Catherine Rampell, August 30, 2012, New York Times: “While a majority of jobs lost during the downturn were in the middle range of wages, a majority of those added during the recovery have been low paying, according to a new report from the National Employment Law Project. The disappearance of midwage, midskill jobs is part of a longer-term trend that some refer to as a hollowing out of the work force, though it has probably been accelerated by government layoffs…”
- Majority of new jobs in recovery are low-paying, study finds, By Jim Puzzanghera, August 31, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Although six in 10 jobs lost during the Great Recession paid mid-level wages, the majority of new jobs created in the recovery — positions such as store clerks, laborers and home healthcare aides — pay much less, according to a new study. The findings highlight concerns about a shrinking middle class and pose another obstacle to getting the economy back on track, said Annette Bernhardt, policy co-director at the National Employment Law Project, which conducted the study…”
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Census Small Area Health Insurance Estimates
- Uninsured on rise in Nashville, By Anita Wadhwani, August 31, 2012, The Tennessean: “Nearly one in six Tennesseans under the age of 65 lacks health insurance, an increase of more than 14 percent since the start of the recession in 2008, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Every county in Tennessee saw larger numbers of people without insurance from 2008 to 2010. But in Davidson County, there was a significant jump, with 25,000 more people added to the rolls of the uninsured in two years. By 2010, one in five Nashvillians under 65 – or 106,800 people – was uninsured, compared with one in seven in 2008…”
- Harris County no longer has nation’s highest uninsured rate, By Todd Ackerman, August 29, 2012, Houston Chronicle: “Harris County’s percentage of people without health insurance improved slightly in new census data released Wednesday, a hopeful sign in the county’s quest to end its dubious distinction as the nation’s symbol of the crisis. An estimated 29.9 percent of Harris County residents lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the new U.S. Census Bureau data, a smaller share than Miami-Dade County’s 35.8 percent and Dallas County’s 31 percent. The rankings represent a reversal of those released two years ago, when Harris had the highest rate among the nation’s large counties, Dallas the second highest and Miami-Dade the third…”
Euro Zone Unemployment
Eurozone’s record unemployment of 11.3 percent in July shows tough task ahead for leaders, Associated Press, August 31, 2012, Washington Post: “The unemployment rate across the 17 countries that use the euro remained at a record high of 11.3 percent in July, official figures showed Friday, underscoring the huge task leaders face to restore confidence in the continent’s economy. The European Union’s statistical agency, Eurostat, said 88,000 more people were without a job in July – for a total of 18 million – as governments and companies continued to trim payrolls to deal with problems of high debt and weak consumer spending…”
Household Development Agents – Haiti
Personal coaches help Haitian families try to get out of poverty, By David Brown, August 29, 2012, Washington Post: “The people who live in this part of Haiti’s Central Plateau need more of pretty much everything that makes life safe, comfortable and predictable. Three-quarters of families do not have enough food and two-thirds do not have access to clean water. Thirty percent of households are headed by women, and 40 percent of children are not in school. One in four children is unvaccinated, and half are underweight. About 80 percent of houses do not have latrines, and 60 percent of farmers do not own the land they cultivate, according to a survey of 5,200 families in the commune, or county, of Boucan Carre…”
States and Voter ID Laws
- Amid lawsuits and controversy, states prepare for voter ID, By Jake Grovum, August 30, 2012, Stateline: “Tennessee has held town halls in each of the state’s 95 counties and instituted special Voter ID-only hours in motor vehicle offices. Wisconsin has revamped its training scheme for 1,800 local elections managers. Pennsylvania just this week unveiled a new, streamlined voter ID card. Those are among the many steps states have taken to prepare for November’s elections under a host of new or stricter voter identification laws enacted around the country since 2010, even as challenges to those same laws continue to wind through the courts. The suits mostly claim that Voter ID discriminates against the poor and minorities who are less likely to carry the needed identification. In some states, lawsuits are casting doubt on what the rules will even be on Election Day…”
- Texas voter-ID law is blocked, By Sari Horwitz, August 30, 2012, Washington Post: “A federal court on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would have required voters to show photo identification, ruling that the legislation would impose ‘strict, unforgiving burdens’ on poor minority voters. Describing the law as the most stringent in the country, the unanimous decision by a three-judge panel marks the first time that a federal court has blocked a voter-ID law. It will reverberate politically through the November elections. Republicans and Democrats have been arguing over whether tough voter-ID laws in a number of states discriminate against African Americans and Hispanics…”
Medicaid Expansion – Georgia, Iowa
- Deal rejects expansion of Medicaid, By Daniel Malloy, August 28, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Gov. Nathan Deal said Tuesday that he will not expand the Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act – which would have provided an estimated 650,000 low-income Georgians with health coverage – because it would be too expensive. Deal had said that he would wait until after the presidential election to decide, but during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11 Alive and Politico at the Republican National Convention, Deal was firm that he will not take federal money to expand the state-based health insurance program for the poor in 2014…”
- Hospitals urge state to expand Medicaid, By Tony Leys, August 28, 2012, Des Moines Register: “Iowa hospital executives want the state to accept hundreds of millions of dollars in extra federal Medicaid money under the national health reform program. Gov. Terry Branstad plans to decline the money, which would expand Medicaid to cover about 150,000 poor Iowa adults. Branstad is skeptical that the federal government can afford to keep its promise to pay at least 90 percent of the cost. The Iowa Hospital Association board recently voted unanimously to support expansion of Medicaid, which it termed a ‘historic opportunity to significantly address the plight of uninsured Iowans.’ Association members plan to aggressively lobby legislators on the subject…”
Medicaid and Dental Coverage
Sharp cuts in dental coverage for adults on Medicaid, By Abby Goodnough, August 28, 2012, New York Times: “Banned from tightening Medicaid eligibility in recent years, many states have instead slashed optional benefits for millions of poor adults in the program. Teeth have suffered disproportionately. Republican- and Democratic-controlled states alike have reduced or largely eliminated dental coverage for adults on Medicaid, the shared state and federal health insurance program for poor people. The situation is not likely to improve under President Obama’s health care overhaul: it requires dental coverage for children only…”
Affordable Housing – Delaware
Limited rental choices: Low-income families try to keep up with Del. rent, By Eric Ruth, August 28, 2012, News Journal: “Up and down Delaware and across the nation, the housing market is seeing new vitality. Sales are starting to edge up, builders are beginning to see hope, and for many, the dream of homeownership seems closer to reality again. Yet for thousands of other Delawareans, a different kind of housing crisis continues, with no solution in sight. Even as the state enjoys a renewed sense of energy in the market for single-family homes, the supply of apartments that lower-income Delawareans can afford continues to dwindle, even as rents continue to rise, leaving thousands struggling day by day to keep a roof over their heads…”
Youth Unemployment – France
As youth unemployment soars, France offers to let companies hire young people on its dime, Associated Press, August 29, 2012, Washington Post: “The French government wants companies to hire young people so much that it’s offering to pick up the tab. The new Socialist president, Francois Hollande, told his Cabinet Wednesday that he wants to wage a war on unemployment and unveiled a plan for the government to pay most of the salaries of tens of thousands of young people hired next year. Unemployment in France is 10 percent, but nearly 23 percent for those under the age of 25. That’s an imbalance that many European countries are struggling with: In Spain, youth unemployment is over 52 percent; it’s 34 percent in Italy…”
Low-Income Seniors – San Francisco, CA
Low-income seniors struggle in S.F., By Kevin Fagan, August 26, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “Beverly Brumfield worked hard all her life, but she didn’t really know hard until the golden years hit. She had no savings. She was alone. Her Social Security check didn’t cover rent. It’s a very American story, with federal statistics showing that a quarter of the country’s senior citizens are poor, a third say it’s hard to meet monthly expenses, and nearly half say they have housing problems. In some places, this translates into cramming in with family, or at worst, homelessness…”
Temporary Workers and Poverty – California
California temp workers are twice as likely to be poor, study says, By Ricardo Lopez, August 28, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “California temporary workers are twice as likely to live in poverty than direct-hire employees, according to a UC Berkeley study released Tuesday. Temp workers, who are hired at reduced wages by staffing agencies, rely more on state aid to supplement their income, the study found…”
Medicaid Expansion – Texas
Texas counties consider going it alone on Medicaid expansion, By N.C. Aizenman, August 26, 2012, Washington Post: “Local officials in Texas are discussing whether to band together to expand Medicaid coverage in some of the state’s biggest counties, making an end run around Gov. Rick Perry’s opposition to the expanded program included in President Obama’s health-care law. For years, Texas’s six most populous counties, as well as some smaller localities, have offered free or low-cost health care for uninsured residents with incomes as much as three times the federal poverty level, or about $57,000 for a family of three. The cost of the programs: about $2 billion a year. If some of the patients were enrolled in Medicaid, the state-federal health-care program for the poor, it could be salve for cash-strapped county budgets and a boon for local taxpayers…”
Homeless Advocacy Project – Philadelphia, PA
Pa. cuts funding for Phila. program for the disabled homeless, By Alfred Lubrano, August 24, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Corbett administration has cut funding for a Philadelphia program nationally lauded as the ‘gold standard’ for helping disabled homeless people get federal benefits. On May 31, the state’s Department of Public Welfare gave Philadelphia’s Homeless Advocacy Project one month’s notice that it was eliminating $722,000 used to help obtain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) money for homeless or near-homeless people who had exceeded their five-year limit for welfare benefits. Many of the people don’t have the mental capacity to work. SSI provides disability income and benefits. The Department of Public Welfare made the cut because the state is ‘reprioritizing’ funding toward programs that emphasize work, DPW spokeswoman Carey Miller said. By taking money from the Homeless Advocacy Project, ‘we will be able to focus better on job placement and retention,’ Miller said…”
State Medicaid Programs – New York, Utah
- New York’s model for Medicaid managed care, By Christopher Flavelle, August 23, 2012, Businessweek: “In February officials from the New York State Department of Health summoned senior executives from WellCare Health Plans (WCG) to a private meeting in Albany. Attendance was not optional. For the third straight year, WellCare, which covers 75,000 New York State Medicaid beneficiaries, had just received low marks for the quality of care it was delivering, a scorecard that includes doctor visits for children, diabetes treatment, and cancer screenings. In most large states, that would be unremarkable: Many Medicaid managed-care plans, especially those run by for-profit insurers, report below-average access to medical services with few consequences, according to a study conducted by Bloomberg Government…”
- Utah Medicaid stops paying for hospital errors but data spotty, By Kirsten Stewart, August 23, 2012, Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah’s Medicaid program no longer pays hospitals to treat illnesses and injuries caused by poor care for patients, such as infections, on-site falls and surgeries on the wrong body part. Hospitals have had to report these ‘provider-preventable conditions’ to the Utah Department of Health since July 2011, a requirement of federal health reform. They’ve disclosed 17 to date, most of them infections. But precisely how much taxpayer money was saved isn’t known…”
Poverty and Tropical Diseases
Tropical diseases: The new plague of poverty, By Peter J. Hotez, August 18, 2012, New York Times: “In the United States, 2.8 million children are living in households with incomes of less than $2 per person per day, a benchmark more often applied to developing countries. An additional 20 million Americans live in extreme poverty. In the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, poverty rates are near 20 percent. In some of the poorer counties of Texas, where I live, rates often approach 30 percent. In these places, the Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, ranks as high as in some sub-Saharan African countries. Poverty takes many tolls, but in the United States, one of the most tragic has been its tight link with a group of infections known as the neglected tropical diseases, which we ordinarily think of as confined to developing countries…”
Homelessness – New York City
New York acts quickly amid sharp rise in homelessness, By Aaron Edwards, August 10, 2012, New York Times: “The homeless population in New York City has jumped sharply over the last year, causing a record number of people to enter the shelter system. The increase has forced the Bloomberg administration to open nine more shelters in just the last two months – sometimes with only a few weeks’ notice to surrounding neighborhoods. The administration said the increase stemmed in part from the end of the city’s main rent-subsidy program for homeless families. But the new shelters – five in the Bronx, two in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn – have provoked criticism from local officials who say they were blindsided by the decisions to open them…”
Poverty Rate – Philippines
Poverty rate cut to 16.6% by 2015, By Angela Celis, August 22, 2012, Malaya Business Insight: “In three years, the Aquino government hopes to slash poverty incidence to 16.6 percent or half the 1991 poverty rate of 33.1 percent. According to economic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan, the government can hack this considering that growth is high and that prices are not going up fast. To be poor means earning less than P16,841 a year which 26.5 percent of Filipinos fall under. The government aim is to bring more Filipinos out of poverty, overcoming the ‘lost decade’ -the regime of Macapagal-Arroyo when more Filipinos sank in poverty. Based on the official poverty statistics by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the proportion of poor Filipinos to total population was 28.4 percent in 2000, 24.9 percent in 2003, 26.4 percent in 2006, and 26.5 percent in 2009. The government needs to reduce poverty rate by around two percentage points every year to meet the Millennium Development Goal of cutting the poverty figure into half by 2015…”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- Possible food stamp cuts causing anxiety, By Laura Figueroa, August 19, 2012, Long Island Newsday: “Food stamp enrollment on Long Island has doubled since the start of the recession, and recipients and advocates fear the impact of budget cuts under consideration in Congress. With nearly 178,000 Nassau and Suffolk residents receiving food stamps, local advocates say any cuts should be delayed until the economy rebounds. However, both the House and Senate appear poised to approve some level of cuts to the $80-billion-a-year federal program. Last year, New York accounted for $5.3 billion of the total. The Senate has passed a bill that would cut spending by $4.5 billion over five years — a reduction of $90 per month for the average New York beneficiary, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. House Republicans are fighting over a version that includes $16 billion in cuts to the program over a decade; the most conservative members of the GOP caucus are pressing for even more cuts to the food stamp program…”
- For some college grads, getting by means relying on food stamps, By Julie Siple, August 20, 2012, Minnesota Public Radio: “More than 520,000 Minnesotans now receive food stamps. The numbers have soared across the country since the economic downturn. Some of the new names on the food stamp rolls are people you might not expect: recent college graduates. Brooke Holmgren, 22, has something many young graduates do not — a job. But it’s not the job she imagined she would find after earning a degree in English from St. Catherine University in St. Paul in 2011. She delivers sandwiches for minimum wage…”
Pre-Kindergarten Program – North Carolina
Court lifts cap on poor children in Pre-K program, By Anne Blythe and Lynn Bonner, August 21, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “A Wake County judge was within legal bounds when he ruled that 2011 legislative changes to the state’s pre-kindergarten program violate the constitutional right to a sound, basic education for all North Carolina schoolchildren, according to the state Court of Appeals. The unanimous ruling was issued Tuesday morning, adding another twist to a protracted legal battle about the future of the state’s pre-kindergarten education for poor children. Superior Court Judge Howard Manning acted within his authority to lift legislative limits on the pre-kindergarten program the ruling said…”
School Voucher Program – Indiana
Indiana public schools wage ad campaign to persuade families not to flee to private classrooms, Associated Press, August 20, 2012, Washington Post: “Struggling Indiana public school districts are buying billboard space, airing radio ads and even sending principals door-to-door in an unusual marketing campaign aimed at persuading parents not to move their children to private schools as the nation’s largest voucher program doubles in size. The promotional efforts are an attempt to prevent the kind of student exodus that administrators have long feared might result from allowing students to attend private school using public money. If a large number of families abandon local districts, millions of dollars could be drained from the state’s public education system…”