Half in Ten and the Coalition on Human needs recently hosted Laid Off and Left Out, a webinar on the importance of unemployment insurance.

“A place at the table isn’t the goal—it’s a prerequisite to the goal,” said Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs, during a keynote address at an event sponsored by the Half in Ten campaign, the National Council of La Raza, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund this week on improving the economic well-being of Latino children.

Thank you for joining us for our 9/21 webcast, Stories behind the Statistics: What the 2009 Poverty and Income Data Mean for Your Community. Download the slides and webcast presentation.

During the webcast, we learned about important provisions that have helped struggling families make ends meet in this economy. The TANF Emergency Fund has provided at least 250,000 jobs to low-income workers across the country while growing small businesses. Refundable tax credits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit have ensured that work pays more than welfare and improved the economic well-being of families and children. With more than 43.6 million Americans living in poverty in 2009, these successful programs are more critical than ever.