Today’s jobs report saw unemployment fall again, down to 5.1 percent. While that’s great, it doesn’t say enough about the losses workers have been taking for far too long. Just in time for Labor Day, a new report from the National Employment Law Project shows that, after taking inflation into…
Archives: Voices
Fact of the Week: More than 60 Percent of American Adults Will Spend a Year in Relative Poverty
Think poverty only happens to other people? Think again. Nearly 62 percent of American adults will spend a year struggling in relative poverty, according to a recent report from Mark Rank, professor at Washington University, and Thomas Hirschl, professor at Cornell University. The report found that, between the ages of…
Help Millions of Workers Get the Overtime Pay They Deserve
Millions of workers across America are working longer hours without getting paid for them, thanks to an outdated regulation. Last month, we highlighted a Department of Labor proposal to fix the overtime rule and ensure that an exemption meant for highly-paid white-collar employees no longer hurts low- and middle-income earners….
Poverty in America: Get the facts and learn how to use the newest Census Bureau data
There is increasing recognition that poverty is stubborn, entrenched, and damaging. There is also a growing body of evidence about what works to reduce poverty. Get ready for the September 16 and 17 release of Census Poverty data with CHN’s annual webinar training. Join expert Jared Bernstein, former Chief Economist and Economic…
More Good News: Dramatic Reductions in Uninsured Rates for the Poor and Near Poor
Earlier this week, our Fact of the Week highlighted the significant drop in the percentage of uninsured Americans since the Affordable Care Act’s major expansion initiatives took effect. This good news was backed up when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics released similar…
Fact of the Week: Percentage of Uninsured Drops Significantly since ACA Took Effect
Fewer than 12 percent of Americans remain uninsured in the first half of 2015, a sharp decline from over 17 percent in 2013 before the Affordable Care Act’s major expansion initiatives took effect. According to a Gallup report released on Monday, Arkansas saw the biggest drop in its uninsured rate…
12 Reasons Why We Do the Work We Do Together
As we were preparing for our Human Needs Hero event last week, we were contemplating the bringing together of the human needs community that’s at the heart of CHN’s work. As we did, we thought about why we all do the work that we do together – both the challenges…
Human Needs Report: Appropriations, Transportation and Taxes
CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, our regular newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. This edition includes articles on the ongoing appropriations process and the intersection of transportation, taxes and spending caps. See below for the full analysis and links to each section…
Human Needs Hero Event a Success!
Where can you meet some of the most passionate and powerful advocates in Washington and enjoy a piece of Wonder Woman cake at the same time? Only at CHN’s 2015 Human Needs Hero reception held last night honoring the National Women’s Law Center. We’re thrilled that the event was a…
Resources from around the Coalition: Immigration, Medicaid, the Minimum Wage and More
Immigration. Medicaid. The minimum wage. CHN’s coalition members are producing amazing work on really important topics. Last month, we introduced a blog series we’re calling Resources from the around the Coalition, highlighting important pieces you’ll want to be aware of. There are even more great works to showcase this month,…
Fact of the Week: 1.7 Million More Children Lived in Low-Income Working Families in 2013 than in 2008; See How Your State Ranks
Five years ago, our country was in the midst of the Great Recession. At that time, 17 million children lived in low-income working families. Since the recession officially ended in 2009, our country has been slowly recovering. Many economic indicators, if not at pre-recession levels, are at least heading back…
Celebrate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Fourth Birthday by Becoming a Citizen-Enforcer of Fairer Lending Practices!
This post was originally published on the Center for Effective Government’s blog, The Fine Print, on July 21. Using Citizen Stories, the CFPB Identified Abuses and Won $10.3 Billion in Relief and Refunds for 17 Million Consumers from Illegal Charges by Financial Institutions Five years ago today, the Dodd-Frank financial…