Posts Tagged Poverty

Rand Paul thinks poor moms should be punished for being poor

Senator Rand Paul may be emerging as the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination, but we must never forget that he holds some of the most extreme policy positions imaginable. Whether it’s being against portions of the Civil Rights Act, being opposed to all abortions without exception, or his latest nonsense about benefits for poor mothers. For every moment where the Senator says something sensical about the war on drugs, there’s this kind of moment where you remember how far outside of the mainstream Senator Paul is.

Via Think Progress (emphasis added):

At a luncheon for the Chamber of Commerce in Lexington, KY, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) floated the idea of capping government benefits for ...

Senator Rand Paul may be emerging as the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination, but we must never forget that he holds some of the most extreme policy positions imaginable. Whether it’s being against portions ...

50 years into the war on poverty, gender analysis needed

Bourgeois (read: mostly white) feminism is currently, finally untenable — politically, personally, and almost universally. Thanks to many, many working class people and minorities raising their voices and elevating their experiences as a political priority, there’s a general consensus around this these days, even if many feminists, old-guard and new-guard alike, don’t know quite what that will look like. Like so many feminist breakthroughs, this one has stemmed from a great, at times unspeakable, need. Because even though it’s been fifty years since President Lyndon Johnson declared an ”unconditional war on poverty in America”–and despite the many important social safety net programs that came out if this commitment–poverty in this country remains a dire problem.

Bourgeois (read: mostly white) feminism is currently, finally untenable — politically, personally, and almost universally. Thanks to many, many working class people and minorities raising their voices and elevating their experiences as a political priority, there’s a ...

Quote of the Day: Don’t worry, just speed to your abortion appointment!

Yesterday, as Jos covered, a federal appeals court took up Texas’s harsh new abortion restrictions. During testimony, lawyers from the pro-choice side noted that thanks to the new law, there is no longer a single abortion provider in the Rio Grande Valley, making the nearest clinic for the mainly low-income, Latino residents a 300-mile round trip away.

But 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones was unimpressed.

Yesterday, as Jos covered, a federal appeals court took up Texas’s harsh new abortion restrictions. During testimony, lawyers from the pro-choice side noted that thanks to the new law, there is no longer a single abortion ...

Weekly Feminist Reader

More reasons to love Beyonce.

On January 1st, gay youth will now be allowed to be boy scoutsbut can we really call it progress?

#RealTalk on sex work: “Sex-positive feminists might party all night with the ‘sluts,’ but some folks couldn’t abide the ‘whores’ from the other side of privilege town.”

On race, skin color, self-acceptance, and mentorship.

Trymaine Lee on how poor, black and brown children are bearing the brunt of school closures and failing education systems.

On the relationship between creativity and poverty: “New York – and San Francisco, London, Paris and other cities where cost of living has skyrocketed are…’the vast gated communities where the one percent reproduces itself’.”

More reasons to love Beyonce.

On January 1st, gay youth will now be allowed to be boy scoutsbut can we really call it progress?

#RealTalk on sex work: “Sex-positive feminists might party ...

Michigan laws will block unemployment benefits for failed drug test

Over at theGrio.com, I reported today that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has just signed into law a new package of laws that allow business to report failed drug tests that job seekers submit as part of the interview process. Job seekers who fail or refuse mandatory drug tests will have their unemployment benefits blocked. 

Over at theGrio.com, I reported today that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has just signed into law a new package of laws that allow business to report failed drug tests that job seekers submit as part of the ...

Chart of the Day: 60 percent of single women can’t afford basic needs

The Census Bureau released new data on poverty in the US yesterday, and the National Women’s Law Center has been crunching the numbers to see how things are looking for women.

It’s not great: Since 2011, the poverty rate among women has been at its highest point in two decades, and that didn’t change last year. Over 14 percent of women were in poverty, compared to 11 percent of men. And the rates for Black and Hispanic women were waaaay higher, at about 25 percent. The wage gender gap held steady too: It’s still 77 to the dollar, as it’s been for the last decade.

And that’s just looking at the official poverty numbers. The group Wider Opportunities for Women released a report on the “economic insecurity rate,” ...

The Census Bureau released new data on poverty in the US yesterday, and the National Women’s Law Center has been crunching the numbers to see how things are looking for women.

It’s not great: Since 2011, the poverty rate ...

NWLC graphic on low-wage occupations and women

Infographic: 60 percent of women’s job gains in the recovery are in low-wage jobs

Today is the four-year anniversary of the last time the minimum wage was increased.

I’ve written before about why everyone but especially women–who make up two-thirds of minimum wage workers–need a raise. Today, the National Women’s Law Center is out with a new analysis showing that 60 percent of the jobs women have gained in the economic recovery have been concentrated in the 10 largest low-wage occupations–ones that typically pay  less than $10.10 per hour, which it should be noted is considerably higher than minimum wage and still totally insufficient. Just 20 percent of men’s job gains have been in these low-wage jobs.

As NWLC explains, women have always been overrepresented in these sectors: More than 75 ...

Today is the four-year anniversary of the last time the minimum wage was increased.

I’ve written before about why everyone but especially women–who make up two-thirds of minimum wage workers–need ...

Load More