A paralegal by training, Terry has been out of work for two years and his unemployment insurance benefits ran out in May.  He has not insisted on staying in the same field and has retrained in electronic health records.  He applies for jobs and the latest has been at a hardware store.

But like many workers in Minnesota, where the number of job seekers outnumbers job openings by 24 to 1 in some regions, there are no job offers.  He gets by on food stamps, depleting his retirement savings and what he calls a hodge podge of short-term assistance. 

He is 62, just old enough for Social Security and has already applied — although he would rather work.  Applying for Social Security early is not good for him:  he will receive lower benefits amounting to only 40 percent of what he was receiving through unemployment insurance. Nor does discontinuing temporary unemployment benefits to Mr. Hokenson and having him turn to permanent social security benefits save the federal government any money.

Here is a link to an interview in one of the local daily newspapers a couple of weeks featuring Mr. Hokenson: http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=118895697

Today marks the 29th day that millions of unemployed workers have been left without jobless benefits as Congress continues to stall on passage of the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (HR4213). The bill failed a third time just last week, unable to get the 60 votes necessary to get through the Senate.

Write your senators today and urge them to act swiftly to extend unemployment insurance and other job-creation measures such as:

• Providing State Fiscal Relief in the form of Medicaid, known as FMAP, for another six months
• Extending the TANF Emergency Fund through FY 2011 to save 205,000 jobs
• Providing funding for summer jobs for youth

Write your Senator Now! 

The House and Senate are discussing the possibility of extending unemployment benefits through November 30, 2010 as a stand-alone bill. Inaction means that 1.2 million unemployed workers will have lost access to jobless benefits by the time July 4 rolls around and a total of 2 million workers will lose their benefits by the end of July. Cutting off unemployment insurance undermines a nascent economic recovery and can have dire effects on families, as these personal stories show.

And without congressional action to provide fiscal relief to states and extend the TANF Emergency Fund, states will lose $16 billion in Medicaid aid. This means that as states start their fiscal years on July 1, hundreds of thousands of jobs and needed services could be cut, both of which undermine the economic recovery. And if Congress does not act soon, business that have partnered with state governments to create 205,000 private-sector jobs will begin shutting down these opportunities for vulnerable workers.

That is why we need you to ACT NOW!

Unemployment across the country is hovering around 10 percent, with low-income communities, youth, single mother households, and communities of color facing disproportionate rates of joblessness. Congress has already, in the name of deficit-reduction, significantly scaled back the help for the jobless and FMAP assistance, cutting unemployment benefits by $25 a week and removing COBRA health benefits from the bill.

Write your senators and tell them to support an extension of unemployment insurance, Medicaid assistance and TANF Emergency fund. These measures will increase the short-term deficit by less than 1 percent and actually put us on stronger economic footing in the long term by contributing to economic recovery and creating jobs.

They need to hear from Half in Ten activists that we want them to invest in job creation. Tell them to finish the job on the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes bill and to vote for an extension of unemployment insurance. We need your help to get the 60 votes to move this bill forward.

Take Action Now. Write your Senator before the vote.

On Friday, June 4, 2010, the Half in Ten Campaign sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to support funding for a supplemental federal poverty measure and for the development of an additional economic indicator reflecting what it takes to “make ends meet.” Already, 349 organizations from 42 states have signed onto this letter in support of this funding.

A new supplemental poverty measure will enhance the ability of policy makers to allocate resources by providing a more adequate account of the constraints American families face today and how well federal programs are working in providing pathways out of poverty.  The additional “make ends meet” indicator would represent a more secure level of income for families not only to meet their basic needs, but to get a foothold on the bottom rungs of the middle class.   Together these two indicators would provide better information to Members of Congress in crafting policy to promote family economic security.

Read the full text of the letter below.

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Even as the economy begins to recover, youth are continuing to struggle in the current job market. A May 31 New York Times story highlights the difficulties faced by high school and college students seeking work. In April, individuals aged 16-24 faced a record high unemployment rate of 19.6%. As the NYT reports, this is double the national average. In fact, unemployment rates are directly related to age, and the younger an individual, the less likely he or she is to have a job. Youth unemployment rates not only deprive young people and their families of an immediate source of income, but also lead to long-term consequences in lifetime earnings potential. Although the current high youth unemployment rates may have a number of causes, what is clear is that a number of young people want to get back into the job market. Action needs to be taken so that currently unemployed youth can stay off the streets this summer and develop critical work experience that will allow them to be competitive in future job markets.

One important way to provide these job opportunities for unemployed youth is through federal funding for summer jobs. In fact, last Friday, May 28, the House passed a bill (H.R. 4213) that provided for $1 billion in summer jobs funding. According to estimates by Northeastern researchers, this “$1 billion federal infusion” has the potential to “create some 300,000 job slots this summer.” The passage of this bill in the House marks an essential first step towards assisting unemployed youth in the months to come. However, this funding for summer jobs is not included in the Senate version of the tax extender bill. Fortunately, it is not yet too late—there is still a critical window of opportunity for funding for summer jobs to be included in the final version of this bill after the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess. To provide economic opportunity and security to America’s youth in both the short run and the long term, the final Congressional version of the tax extender bill must support summer jobs funding of at least $1 billion. Without federal action, unemployed youth will remain, in the words of Adele McKeon, a career specialist with the Boston Private Industry Council, the “silent victims of the economy.”

One of the biggest antipoverty initiatives in President Barack Obama’s budget is his proposal to “make work pay” for low-income families through improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which will be considered after Memorial Day.

These two policies will make a huge difference in lifting working families out of poverty. However, improvements to both the CTC and the EITC are set to expire at the end of 2010 without immediate Congressional action to preserve and build upon these vital programs.

To learn more about what is at stake in the months to come and find out what you can do to help build the campaign to preserve these critical tax credits, listen to an English- or Spanish-language podcast with Reverend David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World.

Congress voted last year to help hardworking Americans make ends meet by expanding the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. But the expansions to these critical tax credits will disappear if Congress does not act soon.

Contact your representative today to demand that they don’t let improvements to these credits expire.

Refundable tax credits like the EITC and CTC help ensure that work pays more than welfare, but they are at risk of losing much of their effectiveness. If Congress does not extend the improvements to the programs, a parent who works full time in a minimum wage position will have his or her annual credit reduced from $1,800 to $320 at the end of 2010. This would have a devastating effect on children in low-income families.

Research conducted by the Tax Policy Center reveals that 8 million children would lose the tax credit entirely if Congress allows the current Child Tax Credit improvements to expire, and an additional 10 million children would lose some of the credit. This change would lead as many as 600,000 more children to become poor and 4 million already poor children to fall deeper into poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

We must stand up to preserve the 2009 reforms to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. But there is room for additional federal leadership, as well. If the current improvement expires, a family’s first $13,000 in wages will not count toward calculating the Child Tax Credit. Congress should change the law so that all earnings count in calculating the credit. A family with two children will receive $2,000 if full-time, year-round minimum wage earnings are all counted; but the same family will receive only $312 if the improvements expire.

Contact your representative today to preserve and improve these essential programs.

May 25, 2010

What is the Earned Income Tax Credit and why does it matter?

The Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the single most important ways to make work pay. The EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-wage working individuals and families. Refundable means that if a worker’s credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed, they can receive the difference in the form of a tax refund. Congress originally approved this program in 1975 in part to offset the burden of payroll taxes and to provide an incentive to work. Today, the EITC remains essential to promote economic security and allow low-income workers maintain a decent standard of living.

The EITC is a public policy that reflects basic values—at its core is the belief that individuals who work full time at minimum wage simply should not be forced to raise families below the poverty line. The EITC helps these Americans earn a sufficient amount so that work pays more than welfare. Parents who earn $10,000 to $20,000 each year are eligible under EITC for the highest credit, and the credit amount decreases as annual earnings increase.

Download this fact sheet (pdf)

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May 25, 2010

What is the Child Tax Credit and why does it matter?

The Child Tax Credit is one of the most important ways to protect families’ economic security. The CTC gives working parents additional funds to help them cope with the rising costs of maintaining a household and raising their children. Depending on the family’s earnings, the CTC allows families to claim up to $1,000 for each child. It represents an essential way to help families achieve and maintain their basic quality of life.

Yet the CTC’s effectiveness depends a great deal on how the credit is structured. The credit was not able to meet its full potential in the past because program rules often denied low-income families the full benefits of the credit. In fact, annual earnings below $13,000 were not considered in calculating tax credit, denying the credit to those who needed it most. Congress made sensible reforms to the CTC last year that allow families to count their yearly earnings below $13,000, but these changes are temporary and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010.

An end of these improvements would be devastating for low-wage families across America. A parent who works full time in a minimum wage position will have his or her credit reduced from $1,800 to $320 at the end of 2010 if Congress does not make the change permanent. This reduction would seriously threaten the ability of low-income, hard-working families to maintain their economic security and self-sufficiency. And it would push 600,000 children of working families into poverty.

Download this fact sheet (pdf).

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The House of Representatives is expected tomorrow to consider H.R. 4213, also known as the “tax extenders” bill. This legislation provides much-needed help to American families and the economy by extending unemployment and COBRA health insurance benefits until the end of the year and providing fiscal relief to states to preserve critical health services and save jobs.

We asked Melissa Boteach, who is Manager of Half in Ten at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, to explain the tax extender provisions—what they are, why we need them, and what they will or won’t mean for the deficit.

Listen to the podcast (mp3)

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May 19th, 2010

What is the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act?

The title may sound a bit unwieldy, but this bill is a bundle of provisions in H.R. 4213 that the House is expected to vote on this Thursday.

Among other provisions, the bill includes the extension of unemployment and COBRA health insurance benefits for those Americans hardest hit by the Great Recession, and fiscal relief to states to preserve critical health services and indirectly help prevent job losses of teachers, social service providers, firefighters, and police officers. It also includes an extension of the current rate of Medicare payments to doctors through the end of the year.

The bill is furthermore expected to postpone for one year the expiration of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families emergency fund, which has allowed states to expand work focused programs and create subsidized jobs for families struggling during this recession. And it should include funding for a youth summer jobs program.

You may have heard the bill referred to as “tax extenders” because it includes a number of tax cuts Congress regularly extends. But, in this case, the bill also includes items that save and create jobs and protect the unemployed.

Download this memo (pdf)

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