Child Care
The high cost of child care disproportionately affects low-income families, and the currently available assistance is inadequate – leaving out over 13.5 million eligible children. Federal and state assistance with child care costs for low and moderate income families, along with an expansion of the child care tax credit, and support for increasing the quality of care will lift millions of children out of poverty, and have a substantial impact on their long-term success.

Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit provides a tax credit to help families with the costs of raising children, but because of its design millions of children are excluded because they are too poor. Changing these rules will bring two million children and one million parents out of poverty.

Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit provides an earnings supplement for low-income working Americans, but does not offer help to many of those who need it the most. Tripling the EITC for childless workers and expanding the EITC for families with more than two children will bring two million Americans out of poverty.

Foreclosure Prevention
Low-income Americans have been particularly hard hit by abusive predatory loans.
Putting in place the laws, regulations and programs needed to get mortgages so that struggling homeowners can stay in their homes – and continue to pay their loans – will help millions protect their hard earned wealth and savings.

Green Buildings and Green Jobs
A commitment to opportunity demands that we work proactively to make the developing green economy accessible to people too often excluded from the current career ladders; increasing unemployment makes investment in jobs particularly timely; and an approaching winter of higher than ever fuel costs demands immediate action. By investing in green infrastructure – and in particular by retrofitting homes and buildings on a massive scale – we can provide opportunities for millions of workers, while lowering heating bills, and dramatically increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution and demand for fossil fuels.

Minimum Wage
In 2007, a full-time minimum wage worker earned $10,712 – nearly 40% below the poverty line for a family of three. Restoring the minimum wage to half of the average wage – as it was during the 1950s and 1960s – will benefit 4.5 million poor workers and nearly 9 million other low-income workers, and lift 1.7 million people out of poverty.

Unemployment Insurance
Unemployment insurance is crucial to helping families get by while people look for new jobs, but today only 35% of unemployed workers get benefits, and low wage workers are the least likely to be covered. Federal and State law changes are needed to modify unemployment insurance rules that limit the eligibility of part-time workers, make it harder for low wage workers to get benefits, deny benefits to workers who lose jobs due to compelling family circumstances, and discount recent wages. We must also promote job training and education for unemployed workers.