In a tough economy, old limits on welfare, By Robert Pear, April 10, 2010, New York Times: “Kimberly E. Kaplan recently received a notice telling her that she and her three children were about to lose their monthly welfare benefit of $584 because they had reached the time limit on cash assistance and she had not made adequate efforts to find work. Ms. Kaplan, 43, is required to work 20 hours a week, but is seeking a hardship exemption. Her 4-year-old son, Landon, has psychological and behavioral problems, and she said that ‘it’s a full-time job to take care of him.’ Rhode Island has the nation’s third-highest unemployment rate, but the welfare rolls here continue to decline because of the time limits and stringent work requirements. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of Americans receiving benefits under the main federal-state welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, has increased less than 10 percent, even though unemployment has nearly doubled and the number of people receiving food stamps has grown more than 40 percent, to 39 million…”
Day: April 12, 2010
Suburban Poverty – Lakeland, FL
Polk ranks 5th in U.S. suburban poverty, By Eric Pera, April 11, 2010, Lakeland Ledger: “Polk County has the fifth-highest rate of suburban poverty in the nation, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. The number serves as stark affirmation of what many in the local social services arena have voiced in recent years: the economic downturn has fueled an increase in demand for services. Some community leaders say they don’t doubt the Brookings report, but Polk is on the verge of an economic boom that will lift wages and create more jobs…”
Extension of Jobless Benefits
- Congress’ delay on benefits leaves unemployed scrambling, By David Lightman, Halimah Abdullah and Grace Gagliano, April 11, 2010, Chattanooga Times Free Press: “An estimated 212,500 people across the United States are in danger of exhausting their federal unemployment benefits this week because a Republican senator has blocked Congress from considering an extension. It’s the second time in as many months that a Republican has led an effort to bar the Senate from considering an extension of jobless benefits. While the money is expected eventually to be paid retroactively, the delay creates a host of problems for people who are out of work and the agencies that assist them…”
- Unemployment to run out for many Floridians if Congress doesn’t pass extension, By Kevin Turner, April 12, 2010, Florida Times-Union: “If Congress doesn’t reauthorize legislation providing extended unemployment benefits soon, Derek Kinner’s next unemployment check will be his last one at least for awhile, potentially forcing him from his Palm Coast townhouse into homelessness. ‘I’ve got two more weeks. I’ll file for it on Tuesday. If that doesn’t come through, I’m totally broke,’ said Kinner, 51, a former Florida Times-Union reporter and editor, who left the company in 2005. The 27-year print journalist is looking for another newspaper job, he said. Kinner was laid off from a reporting job at the Daytona Beach News-Journal about two years ago and has struggled to find work since, he said…”