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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Driver’s licenses

Driver’s License Suspensions

  • Changes sought as driver suspensions pile up, By Lynn Hulsey, December 5, 2017, Dayton Daily News: “Drivers in Ohio can lose their license for actions that have nothing to do with driving. Failing to pay child support. Dropping out of high school. Getting caught smoking as a juvenile. Skipping a court date or failing to pay fines on misdemeanor charges…”
  • Bill would let some D.C. drivers keep licenses despite unpaid parking tickets, By Justin Wm. Moyer, December 5, 2017, Washington Post: “A bill introduced Tuesday in the D.C. Council would prevent the city from suspending low-income residents’ driver’s licenses because they have unpaid parking fines and traffic tickets, a practice some say unfairly punishes the poor…”

Jobs with Driver’s License Requirements

No driver’s license, no job, By Alana Semuels, June 15, 2016, The Atlantic: “Ask conservatives what the poor need to do to get out of poverty, and the answer usually involves something like, ‘Get a job.’ That was the crux of the anti-poverty plan Paul Ryan revealed last week to shrugs, and has been the gist of many anti-poverty efforts over the past two decades.  But for many people, there is one very specific—and often overlooked—reason why that’s not so easy: They don’t have a driver’s license.  Not all jobs require a driver’s license, particularly those that pay very low wages. But having one is a very common requirement for the sorts of job that can actually lift people out of poverty—those in construction, manufacturing, security, and unions jobs including electricians and plumbers, says Mark Kessenich, who runs WRTP Big Step, a Milwaukee center that trains low-income workers to enter jobs in construction and manufacturing that pay a starting wage of $15 and up…”