Page 40 - Poverty Issues News Today

On the heels of a promising poverty report, there are renewed calls to make permanent certain pandemic policies that helped struggling families in Minnesota and around the country. Last week, an annual Census Bureau report showed that child poverty fell sharply last year to a record low of 5.2%. Arloc Sherman, vice president for data analysis and research with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that was largely fueled by the temporary expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit. ...

New poll results released today showed a majority of South Dakota voters support the expansion of Medicaid. This fall, South Dakotans will be asked to vote on Amendment D, which would expand eligibility for the public health insurance program. The American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network is out with a new poll which found 62% of likely voters in South Dakota plan to vote "yes" on the ballot question. ...

Advocates for expanding child care in North Dakota are responding to the governors proposal to improve access across the state. They said it is a step in the right direction, but argued there are other solutions in need of more attention. Yesterday, Gov. ...

September is National Hunger Action Month, and groups across Arkansas are part of a nationwide push to get more people involved with reducing food insecurity. In North Little Rock, one is taking a unique approach to fighting hunger. More than 444,000 Arkansans are not always sure where their next meal is coming from, according to the nonprofit group Feeding America, and more than 138,000 of them are children. ...

Labor and environmental groups are asking for a seat in the "room where it happens" as government trade representatives gather today in Los Angeles to begin negotiations on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The framework is a massive trade deal between states on the Pacific Rim which would govern an estimated 40% of the global economy and affect peoples jobs, wages, digital privacy, climate change and more. Will Wiltschko, director of the California Trade Justice Coalition...

Its that time of year when kitchens are bubbling over as home gardeners preserve their bounty. But there was a time when homegrown produce could be taken to a local cannery to be preserved. After World War II, the U.S. ...

A new report on working in Ohio offers a mixed picture of labor in the state. The annual State of Working Ohio report is out for 2022 and while researchers are highlighting the strong post-pandemic job recovery, workers still face challenges. The report shows the state has recovered 85% of the jobs lost to COVID-19, which is three times faster than the recovery from the great recession 14 years ago. ...

September is Hunger Action Month, and experts say the issue of putting food on the table has never been more important, as families search for ways to get by with less amid inflation and flood-recovery efforts that continue in the eastern part of Kentucky. Without a break in the rising costs of basic necessities, said Katrina Thompson, executive director of Feeding Kentucky, demand at food banks is expected to spike this fall. "Families are finding themselves with not quite enough mon...

In November, Colorado voters will have an opportunity to end a practice known as "lunch-line shaming," which drew national attention after a Colorado childs arm was marked as a message to parents who had fallen behind on their lunch tab. Karla Gonzales Garcia, director of organizing and community partnerships for Hunger Free Colorado, said in an age of intense political polarization, the ballot initiative known as Healthy School Meals for All resonates with voters across party...

September is National Hunger Action Month, highlighting the ways people can get involved to fight food insecurity. Susannah Morgan, CEO of Oregon Food Bank, said hunger was a problem in the state before the pandemic, and in the midst of COVID-19s grip, one in five Oregonians faced food insecurity. Although numbers have gone down, she noted more than a million residents in the state sought emergency food assistance from the Oregon Food Bank network in 2021. ...