Child poverty rate rose, racial gap widened, in Minnesota, By Jeremy Olson, March 16, 2011, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Minnesota’s child poverty rate leapt to 14 percent in 2009 — with minority families faring worst — despite a high rate of working parents, according to a new report by the state branch of the Children’s Defense Fund. While Minnesota had the nation’s fifth-lowest rate for white children that year, its child poverty rate for Asian- Americans was the highest in the nation and its rate for African-American children was fifth highest. The racial divide was one of several showing a widening gap between haves and have-nots in Minnesota, said Kara Arzamendia, research director of Children’s Defense Fund – Minnesota, which produces the annual state Kids Count report…”
Day: March 16, 2011
Long-Term Unemployment
Hidden workforce challenges domestic economic recovery, By Ylan Q. Mui, March 15, 2011, Washington Post: “Overshadowing the nation’s economic recovery is not only the number of Americans who have lost their jobs, but also those who have stopped looking for new ones. These workers are not counted in the Labor Department’s monthly unemployment rate, yet they say they are willing to work. Since the recession began, their numbers have grown by 30 percent, to more than 6.4 million, amounting to a hidden labor force that could stymie the turnaround. Adding these workers to February’s jobless rate pushes it up to 10.5 percent, well above the more commonly cited 8.9 percent rate.An even broader measure of unemployment, which includes people forced to work part time, stands at nearly 16 percent…”
Unemployment and Health Insurance Coverage
- Report: Unemployment adds 9 million uninsured in U.S., By Steven Reinberg, March 16, 2011, US News and World Report: “The millions of Americans who lost their jobs and their health benefits during the recession often had no way to regain affordable health coverage, leaving them and their families at risk of financial ruin, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. The spate of layoffs during the recession catapulted 9 million more Americans — or 57 percent of those who had had health insurance in a job that evaporated over the last two years — into the ranks of the millions already uninsured. In addition, 19 million people anxiously seeking private coverage over the last three years were either turned down or could not find a plan that was affordable and met their needs, the report found. The Biennial Health Insurance Survey also found a whopping 60 percent increase in skipped care due to cost in the past decade. The survey reported that medical debt problems and out-of-pocket spending costs were on the rise as well, with 29 million Americans using up their entire life savings to pay for medical bills and millions more unable to afford food, heat and rent due to medical payments…”
- Job loss, health costs pushed uninsured to 52 million in U.S., March 16, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle: “Unemployment and rising expenses caused 9 million Americans to lose health insurance during the past two years, according to researchers backed by a group advocating access to health care. Losses of coverage helped swell the ranks of uninsured adults in the U.S. to 52 million in 2010, according to a study released today by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based foundation that says it backs research aimed at expanding and improving care. An additional 73 million adults had difficulties paying for health care and 75 million deferred treatment because they couldn’t afford it, researchers said. President Barack Obama’s health overhaul will provide access to insurance to almost all of the currently uninsured through expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor and through private health plans, said Sara Collins, a study author. Federal subsidies and rules on affordability and mandated benefits will allow many to buy coverage by 2014 when the law is due to take full effect, she said. The law is being challenged in court cases questioning its constitutionality…”