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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCAP: The Top 10 Solutions to Cut Poverty and Grow the Middle Class
Center for American ProgressWith flat incomes and inequality stuck at historically high levels, one might assume that chronic economic insecurity and an off-kilter economy are the new normal and that nothing can be done to fix it. But there is nothing normal or inevitable about elevated poverty levels and stagnant incomes. They are the direct result of policy choices that put wealth and income into the hands of a few at the expense of growing a strong middle class.
1. Create jobs
The best pathway out of poverty is a well-paying job. To get back to prerecession employment levels, we must create 5.6 million new jobs. At the current pace, however, we will not get there until July 2018. To kick-start job growth, the federal government should invest in job-creation strategies such as rebuilding our infrastructure; developing renewable energy sources; renovating abandoned housing; and making other common-sense investments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and boost our national economy. We should also build on proven models of subsidized employment to help the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged workers re-enter the labor force.
2. Raise the minimum wage
In the late 1960s, a full-time worker earning the minimum wage could lift a family of three out of poverty. Had the minimum wage back then been indexed to inflation, it would be $10.86 per hour today, compared to the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and indexing it to inflationas President Barack Obama and several members of Congress have called forwould lift more than 4 million Americans out of poverty. Nearly one in five children would see their parent get a raise. Recent action taken by cities and statessuch as Seattle, Washington; California; Connecticut; and New Jerseyshows that boosting the minimum wage reduces poverty and increases wages.
4. Support pay equity
With female full-time workers earning just 78 cents for every $1 earned by men, action must be taken to ensure equal pay for equal work. Closing the gender wage gap would cut poverty in half for working women and their families and add nearly half a trillion dollars to the nations gross domestic product. Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act to hold employers accountable for discriminatory salary practices would be a key first step.
5. Provide paid leave and paid sick days
The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid family and medical leave and paid sick days, making it very difficult for millions of American families to balance work and family without having to sacrifice needed income. Paid leave is an important anti-poverty policy, as having a child is one of the leading causes of economic hardship. Additionally, nearly 4 in 10 private-sector workersand 7 in 10 low-wage workersdo not have a single paid sick day, putting them in the impossible position of having to forgo needed income, or even their job, in order to care for a sick child. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, or FAMILY Act, would provide paid leave protection to workers who need to take time off due to their own illness, the illness of a family member, or the birth of a child. And the Healthy Families Act would enable workers to earn up to seven job-protected sick days per year.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2014/09/17/97287/the-top-10-solutions-to-cut-poverty-and-grow-the-middle-class/
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CAP: The Top 10 Solutions to Cut Poverty and Grow the Middle Class (Original Post)
pampango
Sep 2014
OP
i believe we need to start giving people stipends to survive. too many people + not enough
pansypoo53219
Sep 2014
#5
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)1. Need to add
countervailing tariffs and or tax penalties for corporations that offshore jobs.
pampango
(24,692 posts)2. Plus more progressive taxes, but it is a good list. n/t
philly_bob
(2,419 posts)3. Democratic Platform 2016 -- in my dreams! (nt)
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)4. This makes sense. But nothing can be done
until these ideas can pass through Congress and be signed by the President. The repubs will never let it happen.
BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)6. A lot of dems are hostile to it as well
pansypoo53219
(20,952 posts)5. i believe we need to start giving people stipends to survive. too many people + not enough
good paying jobs. but we have work. we can CCC + WPA this shit again.
BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)7. Nice list
But will never happen in our lifetimes.