Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/tag/welfare/page/2/)
The federal funding program for job creation has given states various ways to help workers hurt by the recession. Florida created jobs for low-income parents, many of them young single mothers. Mississippi gave preference to employers with small payrolls.
A new study shows that many mothers are cutting back on basic necessities like food, heat and electricity to afford diapers. Allison Stevens looks at the emerging “diaper rights” movement mobilizing to make diapers more available for all children.
Welfare caseloads have dropped steeply in recent decades, but some applicants in the South Bronx–one of the poorest communities in the country–say that’s not a sign of winning the battle over poverty. It’s about applicants feeling discouraged and disrespected in the waiting room.
The Patsy Takemoto Mink Fellowship each year extends grants of $2,000 to assist low-income women to achieve an educational objective. Brittney Ferara used the money to rent an apartment, where she now has a safe, quiet place to study.
Women’s advocates are pressing a welfare overhaul agenda in reauthorization subcommittee meetings. President Obama is not expected to make major changes or raise basic funding levels, but emergency and contingency funds are being set aside.
(WOMENSENEWS)–CheersThe Mozambique parliament in Africa passed the first draft of a bill against domestic violence on June 29, reported the nation’s official press agency. The bill imposes harsher penalties for crimes of domestic violence; currently domestic violence is treated as a simple assault case. If passed, the bill would be the first time these types of crimes are included in Mozambique’s state statute.More News to Cheer This Week:A Delhi High Court ruled on July 2 that homosexuality is not a crime in the Indian capital of New Delhi, the Associated Press reported. The decision is the first of its kind in the country and it is hoped to lead to more freedom for gays and lesbians. The court stated that “treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India’s constitution.”
Amid recent stories of teenage moms with family support, there’s another segment of young moms being overlooked. Jeannette Pai-Espinosa says we also need to invest in female teens born into poverty, violence, abuse and other destructive cycles.
Great national pain is reflected in the latest U.S. jobless numbers. But Kirstin Downey says we can thank Frances Perkins–the unsung architect of unemployment insurance–for helping us get through these tough times.
As policymakers craft a Wall Street bailout, budget experts with women’s policy groups worry about the fate of public programs and hail some Democratic provisions. Some activists and pundits, meanwhile, reiterate protests against the Iraq war.
The woes of mega banks and U.N. proceedings dominated headlines this week while social-justice activists gathered in the nation’s financial capital to discuss the intensifying pressures on low-income women struggling for survival.