• Employment is a central component of economic security.  But if the number of jobs increases at the same pace as in the first six months of 2012, we will not return to pre-recession unemployment levels until 2020.  That is unacceptable.  America needs a comprehensive economic plan that will put people back to work.  Such a plan will have many parts that are beyond the scope of the Coalition on Human Needs, including trade and currency policy, the design of policies to encourage job creation in this country instead of offshore, and making credit available and affordable for small businesses.  CHN recognizes that many different approaches should be tried, and supports oversight by the Obama Administration and Congressional committees to determine whether the options chosen are effective at creating new jobs, and whether they reach population groups most likely to be out of work and poor.

  It will be impossible to achieve the job growth needed without a mix of private and public sector jobs.  Budget-cutting in states and localities has resulted in a loss of 477,000 jobs from October 2009 to October 2012, of which 209,000 were in local education. While state and local governments added 26,000 jobs in the last year, the pace is too slow, and was swamped by a loss of 40,000 federal government jobs in the same period. This is a drag on our economy, not only because of the people who are out of work, but because the services they perform contribute to economic growth.

  For more information on this issue, visit CHN’s Public Policy Priorities, 2013-2014.

  Also Visit

  Job Training and Education
  Minimum Wage
  Unemployment Insurance (UI)

  For more information on Labor and Employment issues, visit the links below.

  Urban Institute: A Profile of the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce (10/27/03) 
  Unemployed Workers Information Website
  Center for Economic and Policy Research
  Finance Project Workforce Development Page
  The State of Working America (EPI)
  Urban Institute Research by Topic 

  Advocacy Organizations

  AFL-CIO
  AFSCME
  Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
  Economic Policy Institute
  National Council of La Raza
  National Employment Law Project
  National Women’s Law Center
  National Youth Employment Coalition
  Service Employee International Union
  Wider Opportunities for Women
  The Workforce Alliance

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• According to a new report “The Third Shift: Child Care Needs and Access for Working Mothers in Restaurants,” released today by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, 9to5 and others, female restaurant workers pay penalties for both gender and motherhood. Despite representing one of the largest segments of the U.S. economy and experiencing one of the largest growth rates, the restaurant industry continues to exploit its workers — particularly women, including mothers. Key findings in the report concluded that working mothers lack access to affordable child care, career mobility and a living wage with benefits.