Millions forced to wait for food stamps benefits, By Michelle Roberts and Justin Juozapavicius (AP), June 9, 2010, Washington Post: “When Amanda Vaca’s husband lost his job, the couple took stock of their finances and drew a startling conclusion: They could not afford to feed their four young children. So Vaca filled out an application for food stamps. Then, the wait began. A month passed, then two. In some weeks, the food simply ran out. ‘There was several occasions where I didn’t have breakfast to cook them or all there was was noodles,’ said Vaca, a customer-service representative in Fort Worth who got laid off shortly after her husband. They waited three months for assistance. The recession has landed millions of hungry families in similar straits, forcing them to endure long waits for help buying basic groceries. A review by The Associated Press found that dozens of food-stamp programs in 39 states left at least a quarter of applicants waiting weeks or months for food aid, some in areas that were not particularly hard hit by the economic downturn…”
Day: June 9, 2010
Long-Term Unemployment
- Many workers are jobless far longer than usual, By Kevin G. Hall, June 6, 2010, Kansas City Star: “Even as employers have resumed slowly hiring this year, a disturbing trend pulls in the opposite direction, as the number of Americans who’ve been jobless for half a year or more continues to reach new records. Throughout last year, when unemployment averaged 9.3 percent, the long-term jobless averaged 31.5 percent as a percentage of all unemployed…”
- Long-term jobless face bleak future, By Dan Chapman, June 6, 2010, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Nearly half of Georgia’s jobless have been without work for more than six months, a troubling trend that doesn’t augur well for the long-term unemployed nor Georgia’s post-recession economy. And, unlike previous recessions, men remain unemployed longer than women and whites longer than blacks, according to statistics compiled last week by the Georgia Department of Labor. The jobless pain may get worse. Congress left town last month without extending benefits for the nation’s 15 million unemployed. In Georgia, an estimated 5,000 people a week could lose financial safety nets if the Senate fails to restore the benefits…”
- Chronic joblessness bites deep, By Sara Murray, June 2, 2010, Wall Street Journal: “The job market is improving, but one statistic presents a stark reminder of the challenges that remain: Nearly half of the unemployed-45.9%-have been out of work longer than six months, more than at any time since the Labor Department began keeping track in 1948. Even in the worst months of the early 1980s, when the jobless rate topped 10% for months on end, only about one in four of the unemployed was out of work for more than six months. Overall, seven million Americans have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more, and most of them-4.7 million-have been out of work for a year or more. Long-term unemployment has reached nearly every segment of the population, but some have been particularly hard-hit. The typical long-term unemployed worker is a white man with a high-school education or less. Older unemployed workers also tend to be out of work longer. Those between ages 65 and 69 who still wish to work have typically been jobless for 49.8 weeks…”
State Children’s Health Insurance Program – Alaska
- Alaska governor vetoes Denali KidCare expansion, By Dan Joling (AP), June 3, 2010, Anchorage Daily News: “Gov. Sean Parnell announced Thursday he will veto expansion of a health insurance program for low-income families because he recently found out the program pays for abortions. ‘I oppose expanding the government’s role in funding abortions,’ Parnell said at a news conference outlining vetoes to the operating and capital budgets. An estimated 18,000 children in Alaska, about 9 percent of the residents age 18 and under, are uninsured. The Alaska version of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, Denali KidCare, covers 7,900 Alaska children. Expansion would have added 1,277 more children and 225 pregnant women, according to state Sen. Betty Davis, the Anchorage Democrat who sponsored the bill…”
- Legislators reluctant to override governor’s KidCare funds veto, By Sean Cockerham, June 9, 2010, Anchorage Daily News: “Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens is polling the Senate to see if its members support going into special session and overriding Gov. Sean Parnell’s veto of money to expand Denali KidCare. But Stevens said he doesn’t think there’s enough support for a veto override and personally opposes having a special session. Stevens is taking the poll at the request of Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French. French is a part of the bipartisan majority in the Senate and he’s also running against the Republican Parnell for governor in this year’s election. French and three other Democratic senators, Bettye Davis, Johnny Ellis and Bill Wielechowski, on Tuesday called on Parnell to change his mind about Denali KidCare and bring the Legislature into special session to override the veto. Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow responded that is not going to happen…”