There are 6.4 jobseekers for every unfilled job – and that gap is growing. Two-thirds of Americans are close to someone who is out of work. And joblessness is worst for communities of color, youth, and women who head households. While the investments made through the federal economic recovery legislation have created or saved over 1 million jobs so far, the recession is so deep that more federal action is urgently needed.

Congress and the Obama Administration are working on job creation plans. What should they do? How can we build support for job creation that does not leave the poorest people behind?

Listen in to hear the answers from a January 28, 2010 webinar featuring Deborah Weinstein from the Coalition of Human Needs, Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute, Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change, and Alan Charney of Jobs for America Now!

Click here to listen

From Coalition on Human Needs, a Half in Ten partner:

When Congress passed its Budget Resolution on April 27, it generally endorsed the President’s priorities.  The Budget Resolution only answers some of the year’s policy-making questions:  what, and, at least as far as the annual appropriations bottom line is concerned, how much.  Advocates were pleased with the “what” answers:  Congress committed to grapple with comprehensive health care reform and climate change, two of the President’s top priorities.  The Budget Resolution also commits Congress to many other legislative tasks, including reauthorizing child nutrition programs, making student loans cheaper by reducing the role of private lenders, and creating a home visiting programfor new parents, as the President proposed. 

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In his presentation, The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We know and What we Do, Dr. Jack Shonkoff illustrates the ways that stresses like poverty can permanently impair children’s development.

Poverty and Early Childhood Development (pdf)

In light of the substantial (and rising) costs of child care in the United States, the National Women’s Law Center released an analysis of the child care policies enacted by various states. While some advances have been made in the last year or so, NWLC found that over the last decade, most states made no progress, and in many cases, have actually moved backward in dealing with this problem.
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Lisa Donner, the Executive Director of Half in Ten, contributes to Politico’s “Dear 44: Ideas for the Next President” series:

What should the 44th president do about poverty in our great nation? He should make cutting poverty a clear goal of his administration and prioritize a set of initiatives that will make the most significant contributions to meeting it. We can — and should — cut poverty in half in the next 10 years.
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Speaking before activists and community leaders at North
Philadelphia’s Thankful Baptist Church, Senator John Edwards launched
the Half in Ten campaign by calling on Congress, the presidential
candidates, and all Americans to make the fight against poverty a
priority.
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