Home care workers bathe your mother and change your father’s bandages. We cook for your grandmother and help your grandfather use the toilet. We help your brother or sister with their physical therapy. But despite doing the hard work that enables older Americans and people with disabilities to live with dignity and independence in their own... read more
Mitt Romney’s flirtation with a third presidential run was brief. But it lasted just long enough to raise a key issue that could become a central part of the 2016 race. Earlier this week, Romney and President Obama traded barbs over poverty, amid growing calls by Republicans to address inequality. “Even though their policies haven’t quite caught... read more
More than half of children attending U.S. public schools come from low-income families, qualifying them for a free or reduced-price school lunch, a new report reveals.
... read more
In a year of major Republican victories, the campaign to raise minimum wage has been the rare success story for the left. This year, twenty states will see a minimum wage increase—more than half because state legislatures passed a law or voters approved a ballot initiative to do so. Having racked up victories in recent months, progressive... read more
A little over a year ago, something happened that our nation’s leaders promised would not: our country’s first line of defense against hunger, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program), was slashed. Every one of the more than 47 million Americans who rely on SNAP – including nearly 1.9 million... read more
Michigan's Republican governor has signed legislation to start a pilot program that will drug test adult welfare recipients suspected of using drug in three of that state's counties. The bill, signed Friday by Governor Rick Snyder, was among several bills the governor signed the day after Christmas. read more
Holidays are around the corner. Many are planning vacations. But there are differences among us in our ability to actually take vacations. The wealthy can take vacations at resorts, while those earning less only see such places on television. Many low wage workers are unlikely to take any vacation at all. read more
Fast-food workers in more than 190 cities across the nation took to the streets once again on Thursday with their call for $15 an hour and union rights. But no longer are they carrying the banner of change on their own. read more
Thousands of low-wage employees in approximately 190 cities walked off the job Thursday in what organizers are calling the largest fast food worker strike to date. read more
This should be a time of plenty in our country, and a season of thanks. So how can we explain why the hunger that spiked at the beginning of the recession has not declined? read more
Opposition to the minimum wage is crumbling, and Tuesday’s election results provide further proof.Sure, Democrats – who have championed increasing the minimum wage – might have lost the Senate. But across both red and blue states and regardless of party affiliation, this year voters made raising wages – not Republicans – the real winner of the... read more
On paper, things seem to be looking up for the U.S. economy. The private sector has recovered the number of private-sector jobs that were lost after the financial crisis. Unemployment fell to 5.9% last month, down from 7.9% at the same time in 2012. Economists point to the U.S. as one of the few bright spots in a global environment of... read more
Who would have thought it? In an interview last week, the soon-to-be-named chairman of the National Retail Federation (NRF), Container Store CEO Kip Tindell, pledged to try and push the retail store trade group to change its stance against raising the minimum wage.“I’m working, frankly, to get the NRF to maybe moderate its view on that,” he told... read more
Four years ago, the corporate management of Knights Apparel Inc. and the activists behind the Worker Rights Consortium embarked on an experiment together. read more
Last week, hundreds of fast food workers across the country went on strike, demanding better wages and working conditions. It’s not hard to see why: nearly half of all restaurant workers—including fast food workers—live in or near poverty. read more
