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Family Economic Security

Massachusetts Should Be Leading the Way on Earned Paid Sick Time

April 7, 2014
Guaranteeing earned paid sick time for the people of Massachusetts is a priority that I've long fought for as a representative in the state legislature. As a mom with a background in nursing and interest in public health policy, it is also an issue that resonates with me personally. These are the...

Georgia: Public Education is Critical to Economic Security for Families

April 7, 2014
Americans have long seen education as a path to economic prosperity. As a Georgia State Senator and Leadership Chair of Progressive States Action’s Public Education Working Group, I work with fellow state legislators, families, educators, and advocates to battle education budget cuts year after...

Why We Fought So Hard For Connecticut's Higher Minimum Wage

April 7, 2014
I am proud that my home state of Connecticut made history last month when we enacted the highest state minimum wage in the country: $10.10 per hour. As $10.10 per hour is also the federal minimum wage proposed by the President and Democratic leaders in Congress, Connecticut is essentially leading...

Arizona: Making the choice to support low-wage workers, but we need to do more

April 7, 2014
As an Arizona state legislator, mother, and social worker, I see firsthand the barriers women face to success in my state and around the country. For decades I have worked with women who are marginalized by society and have few opportunities to get back on their feet. Victims of domestic violence...

Gross Domestic Product - What if you got paid to raise your children?

April 4, 2014
The idea to write a play about motherhood came to me when I was writing my last play, Flipside and nursing my second child. Actually, it had been gestating since the day I was nursing my first child and complaining to my HartBeat Co-Artistic Director Greg Tate that the intersecting struggles of...

Comparing Competing Visions on the 2015 Federal Budget

April 3, 2014
On Tuesday we at the National Priorities Project released our fourth annual, one-of a kind Competing Visions analysis , which compares the president’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal to two significantly different visions – the House Republican budget resolution, introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, and...
Jasmine Tucker's picture

We've Got a Math Problem -- but Help May Be on the Way!

April 3, 2014
I remember sitting down with my mom doing my math homework almost every night. One night I was tasked with creating a budget for a family of four -- I remember my mom being elated that I was learning the importance of budgeting from such a young age. I’ll admit at first the purpose was a little...
Lauren Hipp's picture

Oregonians: Let's End General Electric's $3 Billion Tax Refund

April 2, 2014
General Electric got $3 billion in U.S. income tax refunds between 2008 and 2012. You read that right: They paid LESS THAN ZERO in taxes. You probably paid more than they did! We have a chance right now to close two of the biggest tax loopholes that let them do it -- but we have to act really fast...
Frank Clemente's picture

Think you can't afford health insurance? Think again!

March 28, 2014
Most people shopping for health insurance through the Obamacare Marketplace will be eligible for financial assistance—called the Premium Tax Credit —to help them cover the cost of insurance. We’re talking real help—the average amount of financial assistance per family is estimated to be $5,290...
Susanna Birdsong's picture

Scrambling for Stability: The Challenges of Job Schedule Volatility and Child Care

March 27, 2014
For Karen, a part-time package delivery person and mom to a one-year-old, making child care arrangements is a weekly exercise in scrambling. That’s because Karen receives notice of her schedule only one week in advance, and her shifts fluctuate. The volatility of her schedule makes everything...
Liz Ben-Ishai's picture

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