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.
The Reckless Abandonment Edition. While President Trump admits to misleading the American public on the health threat posed by COVID-19 – and more than 191,000 Americans are dead partly as a result – there can be no denying that the economic threat our country faces is dire. And yet: still no meaningful action from the Senate. Food scarcity in this country is exploding at an alarming rate. An eviction moratorium is in place, but due to loopholes and bureaucracy, people are still being evicted – and tens of millions more will join them early next year unless Congress provides emergency rental assistance. The $600 weekly federal UI payment has long expired – and the temporary, not-quite-workable $300 that the President authorized by taking disaster relief funds from FEMA soon will run out, even in states that are distributing the relief (almost two-thirds are not). Unemployment is rising again, but without schools and child care centers re-opening, many parents will be unable to work – even if they could find jobs, which many can’t. But instead of offering a serious response, Senate Majority Leader McConnell put a grossly inadequate bill on the floor that predictably and rightfully failed. That leaves the possibility that no relief package will be approved until the new year. This is unacceptable and outrageous. Bipartisan negotiations in Washington, D.C. must begin immediately.
The number of statesthat have made payments to jobless workers under President Trump’s Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) program. The rest have not yet started (South Dakota won’t provide this aid at all). Texas already has announced its last payment, offering only six weeks of aid. Tweet this.
9.2%
The unemployment rate for the week ending Sept. 5. That’s up from the August rate of 8.4%.
668,000
The total number of educator jobs lost since the pandemic began, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The National Education Association estimates that nearly two million K-12 jobs will be lost over the next three years if Congress does not act. Tweet this.
Half or more
The number of households in America’s four largest cities – New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston – that report facing serious financial problems, with issues ranging from depleting their savings to serious problems paying rent, according to a new poll. It’s worse for Latinx and Black households. Tweet this.
54 million
The number of Americans who could be food insecure by year’s end, according to Feeding America. That would be a 46% increase since the pandemic began.
$312b – $500b
The combined budget shortfall through summer 2022 for state and local governments, respectively, according to an analysis by Moody Analytics.
22 million
The number of adults who reported that they or someone in their household didn’t have enough to eat in the past seven days. That was true of 12 million adults in households with children — 14.1% of all adults in households with children.
40%
The percentage of people Feeding America’s more than 200 food banks nationwide are serving who had never had to rely upon a charitable food system before the pandemic struck.
19.2 million
The number of adults who are now uninsured. (18.6 million of these are between the ages of 18 and 64.)
