Anti-Poverty

Anti-Poverty Leaders Discuss Need for Shared Agenda

 

by Greg Kaufmann

I get it, we need to play defense.

There are 50 million people who are food insecure — meaning they can’t meet their basic food needs and don’t necessarily know where their next meal is coming from — and yet both Democrats and Republicans are debating how much more to cut from a food stamp program that was already cut on November 1 and now has an average benefit of only $1.40 per meal….

We need to play defense.

At a time when the economy needs to add 8.3 million jobs just to return to pre-recession employment levels — and sequestration will result in the loss of nearly 1 million more jobs by the third quarter of 2014….

We need to play defense.

At a time when we have reached crisis levels of poverty for children of color under age 5 — more than 42 percent of African-American children and 37 percent of Latino children live below the poverty line of $18,300 annually for a family of three — and sequestration has resulted in more than 57,000 children being kicked out of Head Start classrooms….

We need to play defense.

At a time when there are record levels of homeless students in US public schools — nearly 1.2 million in the 2011-12 school year — and sequestration will result in as many as 185,000 low-income families losing housing assistance by the end of 2014….

We clearly need to play defense.

But then there is also this: anger, frustration, worry, rage, sadness and despair across the nation. It’s combustible. Ninety-five percent of the recovery gains since 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent, 60 percent have gone to the top .1 percent who earn more than $1.9 million annually. That doesn’t leave much for anyone else to get ahead.

So isn’t this actually the perfect moment for the anti-poverty community to pivot to offense? To rally around a tight, shared vision — one that appeals to people living in poverty or near poverty and to the middle class?

In January of this year, I proposed an anti-poverty contract to unite groups around the minimum wage, paid leave, affordable childcare, subsidized jobs/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reform and ending childhood hunger. I shared the contract with advocates in DC and outside of the nation’s capital as well. The reaction? Roll soundtrack: crickets chirping (with a few notable exceptions.)

As we approach the new year, I still think advocates are too segregated from one another, working on their specific issues, rather than increasing their power and numbers by coming together around a shared vision with popular appeal.

So I again sent some great leaders in the anti-poverty community a scaled back version of my previous proposal, asking whether they thought organizations could and should unite around three or so core issues. For purposes of discussion I proposed:

Raise the minimum wage: no one in America should work full-time, or two or even three part-time jobs and still be stuck in poverty. Historically, a full-time worker earning the minimum wage could lift a family of three out of poverty. The Harkin-Miller proposal of a $10.10 per hour minimum wage would return us to that standard. (It also would raise the tipped minimum wage — stuck at $2.13 per hour for more than twenty years — to 70 percent of the minimum wage.)

Paid sick and family leave: nobody in this country should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for themselves or a sick family member and yet only 34 percent of low-wage workers had access to paid sick leave in 2013.

Affordable, quality child care: it’s tough to go to work and get ahead when there isn’t a safe, affordable place to take your kids for child care and yet childcare assistance policies worsened in twenty-four states in 2012. The average annual fee for full-time child care ranges from $3,900 to $15,000.