Demand Congress fight for working people and families
Americans want to get back to work. But the lingering effects of the pandemic are keeping people out of the workforce. At the same time, employers are having trouble recruiting and retaining employees.
Fortunately, we have the tools at our disposal to strengthen the labor force for working people and businesses, increasing workers’ incomes now when they really need it.
How much more will people lose before Trump and McConnell provide help?The House enacted its HEROES bill on May 15. The Senate has not yet acted; its majority caucus is divided.Since the House acted, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has soared from 1.4 million to 4.8 million. We have gained back some of the jobs lost, but are still at least 13 million below the February peak, and now, as weekly unemployment claims have well exceeded 1 million for 20 weeks, job growth sharply slowed in July. About 30 million jobless people are now going without the $600/week extra unemployment compensation, and that is making it much harder for them to pay rent or buy food. In a nation where 600+ billionaires saw their aggregate incomes rise $42 billion per week between March 18-July 16, the Senate majority and White House have stopped more than $15 billion a week in the $600 unemployment payments; it will take at least weeks for state offices to start them up again. In the meantime, shocking numbers of people cannot pay their rent or get enough to eat. McConnell’s majority has not agreed to an increase in SNAP or emergency rental assistance, but they have proposed doubling the tax break for business meals. States are making cuts, costing more jobs and services. 158,000 have died. Our nation needs action now.
How many jobless people would be helped by the payroll tax cut that President Trump has now talked about doing by executive order, because you don’t pay it when you’re out of work. Tweet this.
More than half
51 percent of people lived in households where someone lost income from work (week ending July 21). From April 23 through July 21, the number of people in such households grew by 10 million, to 126.5 million.
2.23 million fewer
In June, 2.4 million private sector jobs were added; in July, only 167,000, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. The sharp slowing was said to result from the surge in COVID cases followed by more business restrictions/fewer customers. Tweet this.
One in five
The number of households that couldn’t pay their rent in the past month. (Closer to 30% for Latinx (27%), Black households (30%), households with children (28%).) The moratorium on evictions in federally subsidized/backed units expired on 7/25.
14.7 million
14.7 million people in households with children sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week (week ending 7/21); that’s up 1.8 million since the week ending 5/26. 25% of Black and 21% of Latinx households with children did not have enough to eat, more than twice the rate of whites (10.5%).
12.2 million
How many people would be kept out of poverty through December if Congress reinstates the $600/week unemployment benefit, approves another round of improved stimulus payments, and increases SNAP, as in the House HEROES bill.
20
20 states have cut education funding (K-12 and/or higher education) for FYs 20 or 21 because of revenue shortfalls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
-1.9 million
1.9 million education jobs estimated to be lost in FYs 20-22 based on decline in state revenues going to education, according to the National Education Assoc.
