{Editor’s note: We at CHN, like so many nationwide, are dismayed by the violence taking place in Ferguson and want to share the perspectives of people like Tamika Middleton who are taking action. We welcome comments and additional posts.} On Monday night, thousands of people marched through downtown Atlanta in the…
Archives: Voices
Unemployment Insurance: A 79-Year Old Promise to American Workers That Needs Renewing
This post was originally published on the Center for Effective Government’s blog on August 14. “What was the New Deal?…It was, I think, basically an attitude…that found voice in expressions like ‘the people are what matter to government,’ and ‘a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the…
Help Create Hunger-free Schools with Community Eligibility
The start of this school year marks the first time that schools in every state will be able to offer the Community Eligibility Provision, a new program that aims to give all students in high poverty schools access to the proper nutrition to learn and thrive. Community eligibility allows schools with…
Struggling to Eat in the Dog Days of Summer
For most kids, summer vacation means it’s time to relax, play outside, head to camp, and enjoy the sunshine. But for children who receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the end of school takes on a different meaning. It could mean being hungry and…
Bridges to Economic Opportunity: Why We Need Transportation Equity
We’ve talked on this blog about minimum wage, paid leave, and other human needs programs that affect low-income workers and people with disabilities. One area we haven’t talked about yet that also impacts the ability of these populations to get good jobs and improve their situations is transportation. Let’s change…
Head Smacker: Minimum Wage Workers Forced to Rely on Public Subsidies While Their Employers Make Billions
Last Thursday, a group of minimum wage earners and supporters gathered on the steps of the Capitol to urge Members of Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10. Many at the rally brought spare pairs of shoes with them as a symbol of their challenge to Congress to…
Fact of the Week: More U.S. Cities Have Made it Illegal to Be Homeless
A report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released in July shows a disturbing trend in cities across America – the passage of laws that, in effect, make it illegal to be homeless. And the number of cities that are criminalizing many of the activities that homeless…
Head Smacker: Professor Epstein Wants People to be Able to Take Jobs at 2 Cents an Hour
There is a growing support for raising the minimum wage. In fact, 22 states and the District of Columbia have already enacted increases above the federal $7.25 per hour. But that view is not shared by Richard Epstein, professor of law at NYU. He was on the PBS NewsHour on…
Fact of the Week: Americans Want US to Give Shelter and Support to Child Refugees
A new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute sheds some light on what the U.S. public thinks about the child refugee crisis happening along the country’s southern borders. When asked what the U.S. should do about the children who are currently arriving from Central America without their parents, 70 percent…
New Q&A on the Child Refugee Crisis
There are many questions around the current child refugee crisis, including why the children are coming, what protections for them currently exist and what would happen if these protections are taken away, why additional money is needed and when it’s needed, how the public feels about the crisis, and why…
Children Fleeing Violence Need Congress to Act Now
In what has become a true humanitarian crisis, nearly 60,000 refugees, mostly unaccompanied children, have come to the U.S. this year alone. This Wednesday, July 30, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill to provide $2.7 billion in emergency funding to help improve their already desperate situation. The…
Rep. Ryan’s Poverty Plan – Reactions and Resources
Earlier today, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) appeared at an event hosted by AEI to unveil his new plan to fight poverty, “Expanding Opportunity in America.” Rep. Ryan’s plan categorizes his reforms into six different areas, a few of which we’ll discuss here. So-called “Opportunity Grants”: First, Rep….