Workplace injury, illness pushing Americans deeper into poverty, By Seth Freed Wessler, March 4, 2015, NBC News: “Workplace injuries are driving low income Americans deeper into poverty, and casting middle class workers into economic dire straits, a government report said Wednesday. ‘Work related injuries illnesses push thousands of American families out of the middle class and they block many more low wage workers from getting out of poverty,’ said Dr. David Michaels, the head of Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in an interview with NBC News. That claim is supported by a major new investigation also released Wednesday by the news site ProPublica in partnership with National Public Radio. The investigation documents declines in workers’ compensation payouts in the majority of states. Benefits have been cut so dramatically in some states they ‘virtually guarantee injured workers will plummet into poverty,’ the ProPublica story says…”
Day: March 5, 2015
Housing First
“Housing first” approach works for homeless, study says, By Fredrick Kunkle, March 4, 2015, Washington Post: “A new Canadian study lends backing for a commonsense approach to moving people off the street that has been used in the District and other U.S. cities since the 1990s: Ensure that the homeless receive permanent shelter first, and their chances of achieving stability will increase. Known as the ‘housing first’ approach, the program offers social support as well. But it emphasizes finding secure shelter in the community first, in contrast to homeless programs that insist on preconditions such as sobriety or psychiatric care and moving through transitional housing.