Womenstake

Social Security at 75: A Cornerstone of America's Future

by Val Vilott, Outreach Associate
National Women’s Law Center

Our friends at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released a video today, celebrating Social Security’s 75th Anniversary. This program continues to be a vital lifeline for people of all ages and demographics, but as we've written before, the Social Security system is particularly crucial for the retirement security of women.

Check out the video below, featuring NWLC's own Joan Entmacher, Vice President of Family Economic Security.

Help us protect this enduring foundation for America’s future as we celebrate its 75th anniversary! Sign our petition to protect and strengthen Social Security for years to come.

Cut Cake, Not Benefits: Social Security is 75 Years Young and Still Going Strong

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

This Saturday, August 14, is the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the bill into law, but it was Frances Perkins, the first woman in the Cabinet, who made it happen. If you have a couple of minutes this weekend, you can mark the occasion by reading  (or listening to) her speech in 1960 commemorating the 25th anniversary. She reminisced about heading the Committee on Economic Security that worked to design Social Security in the depths of the Great Depression, without a budget, computers—or air conditioning, in sweltering Washington, D.C.

The creation of Social Security in 1935 was an extraordinary achievement—and over the years, it's gotten even better for women and their families. Today, Social Security provides at least half of the income of a majority of women 65 and older. For three out of ten elderly single women and women of color, Social Security is virtually their only source of income. And Social Security isn't just a retirement program; it provides disability and life insurance benefits for young families and does more to alleviate child poverty than any other federal program.

And the really good news is that Social Security can keep going strong and do even more to provide economic security for women and their families for the next 75 years. But policy makers must reject cuts to vital Social Security benefits.

Unemployment Among Single Mothers, Women of Color at Highest Level Since Recession Began

by Jasmine Tucker, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

Stories about the July jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics generally noted that the unemployment rate stayed at 9.5 percent (slightly up for all women, slightly down for all men), 131,000 jobs were lost, and 14.6 million Americans, about the same number as in June, were unemployed. That news is grim enough—but when we went deeper into the data, we found even more alarming trends for women.

Unemployment for women who head families shot up to 13.4 percent in July from 12.1 percent in June. This marks the highest unemployment rate for this particularly vulnerable group since the recession began in December 2007 and the highest rate in over 25 years.

Unemployment among African-American women jumped from 11.8 percent in June to 12.9 percent in July. The situation was similar for Hispanic women, whose unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 12.1 percent in July, marking this group's highest unemployment rate since 1986.

Billionaire Investment Managers Stick Poor Families with the Tab for Medicaid and Education Assistance

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Last week, the Senate finally passed a measure extending enhanced Medicaid and education funding for states and localities. The aid is urgently needed to protect women's health, women's jobs, and services that women and their families depend upon. The House is coming back from recess to vote on the measure tomorrow.

But this critical assistance comes at a painful and unnecessary price. While part of the $26 billion increase in aid to states and localities is funded by closing international tax loopholes (raising $9.6 billion in revenues), the main way the bill is paid for is by cutting $11.9 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamps) for low-income families. These cuts mean that in 2014, SNAP benefits will drop by about $59 a month for a family of four.

This isn't happening because everyone is being asked to sacrifice to get through tough times. It's because billionaire investment fund managers successfully persuaded a minority of Senators to block any attempt to make them pay taxes on their earnings at the same rate as ordinary mortals. 

Do Babies Need Student Loans?

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

It used to be that parents had to start saving for their children's college funds when their children were young. Now, parents may have to start saving for a child care fund before their children are even born. On Tuesday, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies released a study revealing that, in 40 states, the average annual cost of child care for an infant is greater than a year's tuition and fees at a four-year public college. In the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and Wyoming, the average cost of child care was more than double the average cost of college tuition. Low-income parents already struggling to afford basic necessities for their families cannot afford these costs without help. 

As child care costs continue to rise, it is essential that states continue to expand assistance to help low-income families pay for child care. However, as a result of the economic downturn and budget shortfalls, many states are instead cutting funding for child care assistance programs and only providing it to the neediest families. But without assistance to afford the care they need to work, low-income parents may be unable to keep their jobs and gain financial stability. Alternatively, parents may have to resort to lower-quality and less reliable (but more affordable) care that does not promote children's development and learning.

Without more federal funding for child care, the states already cutting their child care programs may make additional cuts, and other states may follow, leaving low-income parents with few options. Just as the cost of college should not keep young people from getting the higher education they need to succeed, the cost of child care—which is often even more expensive—should not keep young children from getting the early learning experiences they need to succeed.

New House Bill Would Extend Crucial Emergency Fund

by Julie Vogtman, Counsel,
National Women's Law Center

I've written before about the importance of extending the TANF Emergency Fund, which is now projected to create more than 245,000 jobs before it expires on September 30. Contrary to the claims of some Members of Congress, the majority of these jobs are in the private sector, as the New York Times points out today. Extending the Fund would allow states to maintain and expand programs that provide jobs to the unemployed while aiding small businesses struggling to stay afloat, as well as continue providing emergency assistance to families in crisis. 

Yesterday the Ways and Means Committee in the House introduced H.R. 5893, the "Investing in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act," which would extend the TANF Emergency Fund through FY 2011 as the "Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance." The bill contains additional measures to promote job creation, including extensions of the Build America Bonds and Recovery Zone Bonds programs, and its cost is fully offset.

H.R. 5893 is expected to go to the House floor today or tomorrow before the August recess. Chances for passage look promising, as the House has passed an Emergency Fund extension twice before. We applaud the House's persistent efforts to continue this vital program. With new OMB projections indicating that unemployment will remain at or above 9 percent through 2011, it's time for the Senate to follow suit. 

Support for Making Child Care a Priority Grows in Congress

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy, 
National Women's Law Center

This has been an exciting summer for working women and their families in Washington. On Tuesday, Senator Harkin stepped up and included increases of $1 billion for child care, $990.3 million for Head Start as well as an additional $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund in the Senate bill that funds key early childhood programs, along with other human services, health, education, and labor programs each year. Representative David Obey also stepped up in mid-July when he included increases of $700 million for child care and $866 million for Head Start in the House version of this bill.

Today, Senator Kerry along with Senator Lincoln and Representative Crowley introduced The Children First Act, which would increase child care funding through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) by $800 million a year over five years, with an adjustment for inflation.  The increased funding would allow approximately 117,500 more children to have access to safe and affordable child care.

In addition, the Act would ensure that the minimum child care health and safety standards required for providers receiving Child Care and Development Block Grant funding also apply to providers receiving funding through TANF.

Finally, the Act would ensure that states could not withhold or reduce cash assistance to a single parent with children under age 13 who does not meet TANF work requirements because of the unavailability of appropriate, affordable child care arrangements.  Currently, this provision only applies to parents with children under six, despite the importance of safe care for school-age children.

In short, the Children First Act is an important piece of legislation for children and families. Please ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor the Children First Act of 2010!

Given that high-quality child care is a basic that allows families to work and children to gain the skills they need to be ready to succeed in school, our hats are off to Senators Harkin and Kerry and Representatives Obey and Crowley today.

Senate Child Care Increases Send Hope to New Mexico Families

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services approved a funding bill that included a $1 billion increase in funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a $990 million increase for Head Start and Early Head Start, and $300 million for an Early Learning Challenge Fund to encourage states to create strong early learning systems to ensure that low-income children receive high-quality child care.

This funding can't come soon enough for New Mexico and its children, which recently joined the expanding list of states that find themselves unable to provide child care assistance to all of the low-income children and families that need it. As of June, more than 2,000 children of low-income parents are on a waiting list for child care assistance.

The state allows families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (an income of $36,620 for a family of three) to apply for child care assistance, and until January, federal economic recovery funds enabled the state to give assistance to all who applied. However, the state has since used up this funding, and while families receiving assistance prior to January 1, 2010 will continue to receive it as long as they remain eligible, new applicants making between 100 percent ($18,310 for a family of three) and 200 percent of poverty must go on the waiting list. 

Catching Up With Single Mothers

by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

In today's NY Times Bob Herbert highlights the increasing economic anxiety American families are facing. New analysis shows that economic security, the knowledge that you will be able to put a roof over your children's heads and food on the table, has been growing progressively scarcer for Americans for the last 25 years. Rising medical costs and unemployment mean that in 2009 a record number of Americans, more than 20 in 100, were projected to lose at least quarter of their income without any financial safety net to fall back on.

America, welcome to the insecurity of being a single mother.

While this level of economic insecurity is a sharp increase for most Americans, it's what single mothers have been living with for years. Between 2000 and 2007, about 19 in 100 single mothers lost a quarter or more of their income each year.

This graph is from the Economic Security Index.

(The researchers did not estimate what the level of economic insecurity among single moms would be in 2009. Given the high rate of unemployment among single moms in the recession and expected surge in poverty, the percentage of single moms losing more than 25 percent of their income could be well above 20 percent in 2009).

More Americans are now living with the anxieties single mothers struggled with before the recession.  We hope that builds support for policies to improve economic security—for all of us.

Dear Senators: Thanks for extending UI. Now how about a job?

by Julie Vogtman, Counsel,
National Women's Law Center

Yesterday the Senate passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits for approximately 2.5 million people who are unemployed and looking for work. This is an important and long overdue measure to help Americans who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks, but the underlying problem remains: there are simply not enough jobs to go around. 

There is no single fix for the floundering job market. But one Recovery Act program, the TANF Emergency Fund, has shown great promise as an effective and efficient method of job creation. To date, the $5 billion Fund has subsidized thousands of jobs for individuals who otherwise likely would have remained unemployed, as well as provided emergency assistance to families in crisis, and it is expected to directly create more than 185,000 jobs in both the public and private sectors before it expires in September. Extending the Fund through FY 2011 with an additional $2.5 billion, as the House voted to do in the extenders bill passed in May, would allow states to continue and expand successful job creation programs.