Poverty moves into the suburbs, By Ann Belser, November 7, 2010, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Life in America’s suburbs, isn’t all commuting and scout meetings anymore, if it ever was. Among its many side effects, the Great Recession brought into stark relief the fact that poverty has taken root in the nation’s suburban areas. Once seen as a problem only in urban and rural areas, the strains caused by lost jobs or low income employment are now shared by neighborhoods that were often created as havens from a city’s ills. ‘It’s a longer historical trend where you’re seeing cities and suburbs moving closer together, not just in unemployment but also in poverty and food stamps,’ said Emily Garr, a research assistant at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. On Friday, the government announced the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.6 percent and, if this month’s data pans out the same as others have since the recession’s start, the growth of suburban unemployment will continue to outpace that of urban unemployment. The change is not readily apparent in a year-over-year comparison, but it stands out when looking at data over the last two decades…”
Day: November 10, 2010
Health Insurance Coverage in the US
- Number of uninsured U.S. adults hits record high, By Steven Reinberg, November 10, 2010, USA Today: “Nearly 50 million Americans have gone without health insurance for at least part of the past year – up from 46 million people in 2008, federal health officials reported Tuesday. Those people included not only those Americans living in poverty, but an increasing number of middle-income people, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘The bottom line is that uninsurance of young and middle-class adults increased by 4 million people from 2008 to the first quarter of 2010,’ CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said during a news conference Tuesday. What’s more, the number of people without insurance for a year or more increased from 27.5 million in 2008 to 30.4 million in the first quarter of 2010, Frieden said. ‘That’s an increase of 3 million of chronically uninsured adults…'”
- Report: 59 million Americans lack health care, By Joshua Norman, November 10, 2010, CBS News: “More than 59 million Americans had no health insurance for at least part of 2010, an increase of 4 million from the previous year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported Tuesday. While the worsening economic conditions did have a direct impact on the number of Americans with coverage, the situation also meant that a far greater number of Americans are forgoing needed medical care because of costs…”
Child Welfare Reform – Nebraska
Nebraska groups criticize child welfare reform effort, By Margery A. Beck (AP), November 10, 2010, Lincoln Journal Star: “Several groups complained publicly Wednesday that agencies hired by the state to manage parts of Nebraska’s child welfare system have refused to work with attorneys in cases involving state wards, failed to return phone calls or even tell authorities where foster children have been placed for weeks. Voices for Children in Nebraska, Nebraska Appleseed and others gathered in Lincoln to release a letter signed by more than 800 organizations and individuals calling on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for more information, transparency and accountability in the state’s child welfare reform process. The letter is being sent to Gov. Dave Heineman and officials with the state Health and Human Services Department…”