Congress returned to work today for the first time since the elections. For some, it will be a victorious return. For others, it will be the start of their last two months in office. Either way, they have a lot to do before the end of the year, and the…
Archives: Voices
Fact of the Week: Safety Net Programs Kept Child Poverty from Skyrocketing during the Great Recession
New reports from UNICEF show that child poverty rates increased in the majority of developed countries around the world during the Great Recession, but the social safety net kept U.S. rates steady. The globally-focused report concluded that 76.5 million children in the world’s richest countries live in poverty, up 2.6…
What Good is a Safety Net?
America’s safety net is one of our most maligned and threatened public institutions, where attacks rely on arguments about decreasing the size of government and “entitlement reform.” But a funny thing happens when you ask Americans what they are willing to cut: the answer is, not much. Americans recognize that…
Mandate for What?
Here’s some of what was on people’s minds as they voted, according to polls taken on Election Day: Two-thirds (65 percent) said the country is seriously off-track. 70 percent rated the economy fair or poor. Although more people (28 percent) said their own financial situation was improved than in previous…
Some Good News From Tuesday
While many eyes around Washington were on the federal congressional races yesterday and on which party would end up with control of the Senate, there were also important state-level ballot measure campaigns happening all across the country. In a time when Congress is seen as inactive and partisan gridlock prevents…
Dance Your Way to the Polls
The other day, we told you about the latest stops on the Nuns on the Bus voter education tour, We the People, We the Voters. The Sisters from NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby and some friends are having some fun with this – check out their #NunTrouble music video, It’s All…
Fact of the Week: Number of Children Benefiting from Federal Low-Income Child Care Program at a 15 Year Low
The number of children receiving child care funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) fell to a 15-year low, according to CLASP analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for helping low-income families pay for…
5 Things You Should Know About SNAP
This August marked the 50th anniversary of the food stamp program, known today as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. CHN is joining a number of organizations and advocates this week to talk about the importance of SNAP. We invite you to join in the conversation on October 30 from…
Will you be smacking your head on November 5?
I can’t tell you who to vote for on November 4. The Coalition on Human Needs is a nonprofit group, and we’re not allowed to weigh in on candidates. But we are allowed to encourage everyone to get out and vote. If you’re reading this, you are almost certainly well…
Death and Taxes: Inevitable for All?
Considering being very rich? It has a lot of advantages. Even those two things said to be inevitable – death and taxes – can be stalled, if not evaded altogether. Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman published a paper this month documenting that widening inequality is not just a matter…
Yellen Makes the Case for Reducing Inequality
“The extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concerns me. The past several decades have seen the most sustained rise in inequality since the 19th century after more than 40 years of narrowing inequality following the Great Depression. By some estimates, income and wealth inequality…
Child Care Centers and the Quality Improvement Catch-22
This post was originally published on the Half in Ten Education Fund’s TalkPoverty blog on October 22. Quality, affordable child care is not only right and necessary to prepare children to learn; it’s also needed if low-income working parents are to have a shot at working their way out of poverty….