IRS expands Earned Income Tax Credit for 2009, January 29, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “There’s a bright spot in the nation’s dismal economic climate this tax season: The Internal Revenue Service has expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for 2009, meaning more families are eligible for a larger return from the federal government. The EITC now includes low-income working families with three or more children, and the top income limit has increased to $48,279 from $41,646 in 2008. Changes also have been made to the definition of a qualifying child. The IRS estimates more than 5 million additional families will be eligible for the expanded credit this year. The EITC gave back $50 billion to 24 million taxpayers across the country in 2008, said David Williams, director of electronic tax administration and refundable credits for the IRS. ‘EITC is one of the largest and most effective anti-poverty programs in government. It lifted millions of people out of poverty last year,’ Williams said…”
Day: February 3, 2010
Need for Emergency Food Assistance in the US
- Study: 1 in 8 get help at food banks, By Wendy Koch, February 1, 2010, USA Today: “One in eight Americans – 37 million – received emergency food help last year, up 46% from 2005, the nation’s largest hunger-relief group reports today. Children are hit particularly hard, according to the report by Feeding America, a network of 203 food banks nationwide. One in five children, 14 million, received food from soup kitchens, food pantries and other agencies, up from 9 million in 2005, the year of the group’s last major survey…”
- Workers hungry, too, study finds, By Anne Krueger, February 3, 2010, San Diego Union-Tribune: “It’s not just the jobless who are going hungry. Nearly two-thirds of the families who sought assistance from food banks last year included at least one adult who was working, according to a new study of hunger in San Diego County released yesterday. That amount compared with 36 percent nationally in the study conducted by Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. More working families need help with food in San Diego County because the area has one of the highest living costs in the nation, said Gary J. McDonald, president and chief executive officer of Feeding America San Diego…”
- Study finds use of food pantries soaring in Mass., By David Abel, February 3, 2010, Boston Globe: “Nearly 1 in 10 state residents relied on a food pantry, soup kitchen, or shelter last year, a 23 percent increase over 2006, according to a new survey of food banks in Massachusetts. Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks nationwide, estimated that more than 571,000 state residents relied on food assistance last year. The state’s food banks distributed 44.7 million pounds of food last year, a 30 percent increase from 2006, reflecting a spike in demand as unemployment and poverty have surged during the recession…”
- Study: 650K Ind. residents received emergency food, By Carly Everson (AP), February 2, 2010, Chicago Tribune: “Nearly 650,000 Indiana residents — almost half of them children or seniors — received emergency food from local food banks last year as the recession lingered, according to a statewide study released Tuesday. The study, conducted by the groups Feeding Indiana’s Hungry and Feeding America, found that 37 percent of the households served have at least one employed adult, said Emily Weikert Bryant, a spokeswoman for Feeding Indiana’s Hungry. Twenty-five percent of adults in the households Feeding Indiana’s Hungry serves are working at least part-time, she said…”
- Report shows surge in visits to food pantries, By Rex W. Huppke, February 2, 2010, Chicago Tribune: “Eddie Johnson lost his state job in 2008, then lost his rental apartment and soon became one of the new regulars picking up monthly food supplies at the Lakeview Pantry. The North Broadway storefront fills up each Monday afternoon with crowds now bigger than volunteers have ever seen. This week, more than 40 people filled the waiting area, taking numbers for their turn to collect everything from bulk boxes of rice to fresh produce. A core population of people who have long lived in poverty is now being joined by Chicagoans like Johnson, recession victims driving food pantry demand to new highs…”
Jobless Rates in the US
- Formula shows why it’s so hard to cut jobless rate, By Jeannine Aversa (AP), February 1, 2010, Janesville Gazette: “The economy’s 5.7 percent growth last quarter – the fastest pace since 2003 – was a step toward shrinking the nation’s 10 percent unemployment rate. There’s just one problem: Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of 2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1 percentage point. And economists don’t think that’s possible. Most analysts say economic activity will slow to 2.5 percent or 3 percent growth for the current quarter as the benefits fade from government stimulus efforts and from companies drawing down less of their stockpiles. That’s why the Federal Reserve and outside economists think it will take until around the middle of the decade to lower the double-digit jobless rate to a more normal 5 or 6 percent…”
- Unemployment rises in most metro areas during December, By Christopher S. Rugaber (AP), February 3, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Unemployment rose in most cities and counties in December, signaling that companies remain reluctant to hire even as the economy recovers. The unemployment rate rose in 306 of 372 metro areas, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The rate fell in 41 metro areas and was unchanged in 25. That’s worse than November, when the rate rose in only 154 metro areas, fell in 170 and was unchanged in 48. In all, joblessness topped 10% in 138 metro areas, up from 125 in November but below last year’s peak of 144 areas in June. The highest unemployment rate was in El Centro, Calif., with 27.7%, followed by Merced, Calif., at 19.8%. El Centro is heavily agricultural and has many seasonal farm workers who are frequently unemployed. Its jobless rate is down from 33.1% in August…”