- Government shutdown jeopardizes low-income families, Associated Press, October 4, 2013, Patriot-News: “Jacob Quick is a fat and happy 4-month-old with a big and expensive appetite. Like millions of other poor women, Jacob’s mother relies on the federal Women, Infants and Children program to pay for infant formula — aid that is now jeopardized by the government shutdown. Pennsylvania and other states say they can operate WIC at least through the end of October, easing fears among officials that it would run out of money within days. But advocates and others worry what will happen if the shutdown drags on beyond that…”
- More than 5K Ariz. families denied welfare checks, By Ronald J, Hansen, October 3, 2013, Arizona Republic: “More than 5,000 low-income Arizona families failed to get their welfare checks Thursday in one of the more tangible early effects of the federal government shutdown. The group included people who had been approved for cash assistance, which averages $207 per person, but were not paid because money for the federally funded, state-run program had run out. About 11,000 other families already had received their aid this month, but their benefits could be affected if the political stalemate in Washington stretches into November…”
- If government shutdown persists, N.H. social services could start to run short, By Ben Leubsdorf, October 3, 2013, Concord Monitor: “Despite the government shutdown, the federally funded safety net for low-income New Hampshire residents appears intact for now. But if the shutdown continues into late October or beyond, state officials and local agencies are worried they’ll begin to run out of money for programs that help supply poor people with food, fuel and child care…”
- No government reports in shutdown; economists left in limbo, By Ann Belser, October 4, 2013, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “On the first Friday of every month, a host of people are ready at 8:30 a.m. to click into the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. It is at that moment that the bureau releases some of the most economically sensitive data it has: the monthly report on national employment, which includes the unemployment rate, the number of jobs created and the averages of wages and numbers of hours worked. The information regularly moves the financial markets…”
- U.S. government shutdown claims latest victim: September unemployment report, By Ed Beeson, October 3, 2013, Star-Ledger: “Those who keep watch on how many jobs the U.S. adds each month will have to wait longer for September data. The U.S. Labor Department announced today that its monthly report on the country’s employment situation won’t be released Friday as scheduled, thanks to the federal shutdown. A new release date hasn’t been scheduled, the agency added…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty