As unemployment and joblessness soar, low-wage workers across the country are embracing and successfully developing co-operative business structures. Here are some stories of workers who are taking control and reducing their risk of exploitation, while lifting wages and gaining managerial experience.



In Richmond, California, Mayor Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, inspired by co-operatives in Mondragon, Spain is encouraging new worker-owned ventures. Richmond's co-operative businesses include the up and coming Liberty Ship Cafe that will cater to city employees, and Richmond Solar, which will be a solar energy cooperative. In Cleveland, Ohio Evergreen Cooperatives boasts a solar energy and weatherization business, a cooperative laundry, and in the next few months, an urban farming co-op.

In New York, the South Bronx's Greenworker Cooperatives counters environmental racism and joblessness by recruiting local residents for a skills training academy for green jobs. Brooklyn is home to the Park Slope Food Co-op, one of New York's best known worker-owned businesses and the country's largest co-operative of its kind. More recently, Sunset Park's Center for Family Life, a Brooklyn community development organization has incubated a number of low-wage worker-led initiatives including Sí Se Puede, a co-operative cleaning business. The women worker-owners of Sí Se Puede's have raised their hourly wages, now earning as much as $25 per hour or as much as three times what they would be making otherwise, while gaining more independence in their schedules and working hours.

As the Women of Color Policy Network discussed in our First to Fall, Last to Climb Policy Brief, African-Americans and Latinos are more likely to currently be represented in low-wage and service jobs. The face of worker-owned co-operatives in America is shifting to reflect more women, communities of color and multilingual populations. These innovative business structures provide an innovative path to wealth accumulation. They also often recognize the need for childcare and health benefits of their workers-- essential components of occupational support for families and many women workers. Greater emergence of co-operatives also creates a need for banking arrangements that can accommodate and support businesses with many owners. Many co-operatives turn to credit unions for their banking needs. As American cities strive to overcome the residual impacts of the recession, worker-owned co-operatives present an attractive alternative to conventional top-down models of job growth and business development. 

Shows More than 1/4 of Poor Work Full-Time; Hispanics Have Highest Poverty Rate

Yesterday's New York Times, reported that 98 million Americans are now in the low income category, and that 16.1% are living below the poverty line, when counted using the new Supplemental Poverty Measure. At the same time, more than a quarter of the working-age poor, 28% are working full-time, year-round.

The Census Bureau's new Supplemental Poverty Measure numbers were released last week, revealing stark increases in the numbers of Americans living in poverty. There were also rises in numbers of low-income individuals, in part because those who were in poverty before, were lifted into the low-income group, in part due to government programs and benefits. But many of the Americans who today find themselves in the low-income category are also part of families and individuals who have now fallen out of the middle class.

In October, the Women of Color Policy Network released a policy brief about the 2010 Census poverty numbers and the disproportionate impact of poverty on people of color. Now, using the Supplemental Poverty Measure, the Pew Research Center has found that Hispanics are worst off, in terms of the poverty rate.  However, using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (as compared to the official measure) also showed an increase in rates of poverty in Asian and white communities. 

The supplemental poverty measure demonstrates a more holistic way of thinking about the indicators of poverty in America. It supplements the official measure, but does not replace it, since the official measure will continue to be used to allocate government benefits and program funding. However, the Census Bureau says that they are looking for a way to incorporate a supplemental poverty measure question into their American Community Survey, which would pave the way to greater analysis of inequality and its causes. 

To view the the Special Tabulations of the Research Findings of the Supplemental Poverty Measure (provided to the New York Times by the Census Bureau), click here.

At yesterday's Occupy Wall Street march, more than a dozen unions and about 20 community groups joined an estimated 15,000 demonstrators on the streets of New York's financial district. They raised their voices with diverse, yet not divergent demands: labor rights, racial justice, gender equity, access to healthcare, support for sexual minorities, environmental protection, immigration reform, and solidarity with international movements, to name a few. And many frustrations were vented under the umbrella of opposition to corporate greed. The incorporation of so many groups, notably the unions, raises questions about how the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon will adapt to its new supporters and their intersecting identities.
 
Poverty disproportionately affects communities of color, but it also affects particular groups within those communities. While poverty rates are at an all time high for all Americans--over 46 million lived in poverty in 2010--below are some particular examples drawn from the Network's analysis of recent Census data on poverty.
 
At the intersection of age and race:
- In 2010, more than one in five American children lived in poverty.
- Latino children (35% live in poverty) and Black children (39% live in poverty) are significantly more likely to be poor.
 
At the intersection of race and gender:
- American women still make just over 77 cents to every dollar earned by American men (or an annual median income of $36,931 versus $47,415 per year).
- Latina women earn 54 cents for every dollar earned by white men (or an annual median income of $27,992, versus $51,865).
 
Even though Occupy Wall Street resists ascribing itself to one particular political ideology or leadership structure, an intersectional frame explains how seemingly different grievances are connected. In the last week, some questioned the visible absence of people of color at Zuccotti Park. Others critiqued the method of occupation as a form of protest, stating that many who are working low-wage jobs would not be able to take time off from work to participate. Some demonstrators circulated an online call out for the newly formed Occupy Wall Street People of Color Working Group that aims to increase access to the movement. It appears that Occupy Wall Street strives for an atmosphere that idealizes inclusion, but as experience dictates in many settings, inclusion is not always easily practiced. Taking an intersectional approach to creating and analyzing community participation highlights that no one aspect of identity is more important than another. It also looks at how power relationships are interconnected and how individuals experience power and oppression differently and disproportionately. Using an intersectional approach demonstrates how public policies and private practices affect different groups at various angles and with varying degrees of intensity and effectiveness.
 
As the Occupy Wall Street movement evolves and seeks to incorporate an ever growing number of groups, it will be interesting to see what lessons it can draw from intersectional models of catalyzing social change.
 

37,000 fewer individuals applied for unemployment assistance this week, leading to speculation that the number of jobless is on the decline. However, last week 391,000 people sought the social safety support of unemployment benefits to help them through their economic instability. Both during and now after the recession, the media and academic work has tended to focus on the people needing support through situations of joblessness, underemployment and diminished earnings, but little attention is paid to the people working within the systems designed to keep vulnerable people afloat through social and economic uncertainty. When someone recently laid off walks through the doors of the unemployment office, what are the stories of the people serving them, and how has the recession affected the workers in those venues? Government bureaucracies uphold the fibers of the social safety net through the many offices that provide unemployment benefit, welfare, food stamps and a myriad of other programs. People of color are over-represented amongst the unemployed, while frequently the frontline providers of government service to them are also disproportionately non-white.

Last week, Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes of Northwestern University spoke to a small gathering of students and academics at NYU Wagner. Watkins-Hayes writes about welfare bureaucracies and health issues and their intersections with racial identity. In her article "Race-Ing the Bootstrap Climb:Black and Latino Bureaucrats in Post-Reform Welfare Offices" (Social Problems, 2009), she analyzes the Black and Latino workers who make up a disproportionately large part of the workforce that assesses TANF claims. She provides an interesting sociological study of the experiences of both worker and recipient in welfare offices and other "catch-all bureaucracies". By examining the public face of the "front line", Watkins-Hayes raises questions about the relationship between the unemployed and the people in charge of enforcing and mediating the distribution of their benefits. While efforts to racially diversify public sector and social service agency employees have often resulted in increased racial representation amongst frontline workers,  cuts to public sector jobs can translate into increased economic pressures on those workers of color--workers of color who, Watkins-Hayes argues, have gained access to middle-class status in part due to public sector employment. Watkins-Hayes reminds us that the offices of the broader system of social support in the post-recessionary period is worthy of observation--- not only for the effect that the benefit offices have on those who need them, but also for the people who administer the benefits and manage the successes and challenges of those who walk through its doors.

Learn more about the Women of Color Policy Network and research on poverty here. To read more about Dr. Watkins-Hayes work, click here. 

Newly released US Census data reveals that more Americans than ever before are living in poverty. The overall poverty rate rose from 14.3 percent in 2009 to 15.1 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, poverty rates for Blacks and Hispanics in the same period rose to 27.4 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively. What does this mean for communities of color and for the overall economic health of the nation? Find out in the Women of Color Policy Network's analysis of the 2010 Census data. The Network's policy brief looks at impact of poverty on American workers and families.

(Above image from the Network's policy brief, Income And Poverty in Communities of Color)

In the first full year following the declaration of the end of the recession, median household income declined for all racial groups. However, while white median household income amounted to $54,620 in 2010, median income levels for Hispanic and Black households were $37,759 and $32,068, respectively. For single mothers, median household income was even lower, especially for single mothers of color. In the graph above, see the breakdown of poverty rates according to family structure and race for families with children.  In the infographic below, see the overall numbers represented in Colorlines' useful visual representation of the 2010 Census income numbers. 

Given that slightly under 7% of Americans now live in deep poverty---defined as half of the poverty line, which is the equivalent of a family of four living on $11,157---America's social safety net must be reinforced to protect all families and build economic resilience. The great disparities in income emphasize the urgency of bold policies that counter racial and gender discrimination in the job market, as well as support training and education of low-income and economically disadvantaged people.

To read the Network's full analysis of the Census Bureau's recently released poverty and income data and view the Network's recommendations for creating pathways out of poverty, click here.

It's been nearly 15 years since the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was enacted in 1996 as part of the Clinton Administration's efforts to "end welfare as we know it." To commemorate this anniversary, Legal Momentum has issued a new report, Welfare Reform at Age 15: A Vanishing Safety Net for Women and Children, assessing the overall impact of TANF over the last 15 years.

The following statistics and observations from the report support Legal Momentum's assertion that TANF has eroded America's safety net since its enactment:

- Program enrollment has declined from four-fifths of eligible families pre-reform to two-fifths of eligible families post-reform.

- The number of children receiving benefits has fallen from three-fifths of poor children pre-reform to just one-fifth of poor children post-reform.

- Benefits have plummeted far below the poverty level in every state and to less than five dollars a person a day in most states.

- Many needy persons are arbitrarily excluded from aid by welfare reform's time limits, family caps, and five year eligibility bans for legal immigrants.

- Inaccessible or inadequate TANF aid sometimes deters domestic violence victims from fleeing their abusers.

- During the "Great Recession" [between 2007-2009]...the increase in the number of families receiving TANF [110,000] was far less than the increase in poor families [800,000].

This September, current TANF funding expires, requiring Congress to either reauthorize or extend the program. At a time when unemployment and poverty rates remain at historic highs, the safety net needs to be strengthened, not shredded, to support low-income families in the transition from poverty to economic security.

Yesterday, safety net experts representing a wide range of perspectives convened at NYU Wagner for the Women of Color Policy Network event "Forward Thinking in Critical Times: TANF, Safety Nets, and a New Economy for All." From sharing personal experiences receiving public assistance to providing a birds-eye view of what the Obama Administration hears from states about TANF's implementation and effectiveness, the panelists provided critical insight about how to link TANF to national and state-level poverty reduction goals and build the economic security of low-income families through education, training, and continued work supports.

Several statistics shared by the experts throughout the discussion included:

- TANF has resulted in a huge decline in the percentage of eligible families receiving assistance. Under AFDC, four-fifths of eligible families received assistance; now, only two-fifths of eligible families receive public benefits under TANF.

- In New York State, the welfare caseload has decreased even during periods where the need increased. The percentage of applicants who were declined assistance increased during the recession.

- When TANF ECF was created to help states meet the rising costs of providing cash assistance, create subsidized jobs, and offer short-term non-recurrent assistance, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that only half of the money would be spent and that states wouldn't use much of the funds for subsidized employment. Instead, all of the funds were spent, many of which were used by states to create over 260,000 jobs and provide short-term aid.

- The current political climate is slashing safety net funding, with the most recent GOP budget proposal for FY 2012 cutting billions of dollars in federal spending, two-thirds of which come from programs for low- and moderate-income people. 

The event closed with panelists stressing the need to challenge the dominant assumption that welfare reform was a success and broaden the base/agenda of economic security movements in ways that emphasize commonalities among policy change advocates for subsidized child care, workers rights, expanded educational opportunities, and welfare reform.

The roundtable was one of several events in the Network's Opportunity Series, co-sponsored by the Applied Research Center, Center for Social Inclusion, Insight Center for Community Economic Development, Legal Momentum, and the National Partnership for Women and Families.

The World Economic Forum released the 2010 Global Gender Gap Report recently, showing gains for the United States' global ranking. The US ranked 19th globally, breaking into the Top 20 for the first time. Yet many single women mothers in the US continue to face financial peril. They aren't making as much as single men fathers, have much lower wealth, and are much less likely to have benefits such as paid sick days.

Our latest report, "At Rope's End: Single Women Mothers, Wealth and Asset Accumulation in the United States ", by Dr. Mariko Chang and Dr. C. Nicole Mason, Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network, uncovers the realities that single women mothers face:

- Estimates show that over 18 million children live in households headed by single women
- Single women mothers possess only 4 percent of the wealth of single fathers: $100 compared to $25,300
- Black and Latino single mothers have a median wealth of zero, whereas single white women mothers report a median wealth of $6,000

Meanwhile a recent Wall Street Journal article says that young, single women in their 20's are making more than their male counterparts. But as some financial commentators observe, much of these gains are due to high levels of education and childlessness. When it comes to single women mothers under 40, over half have zero or negative wealth.

"At Rope's End" is part of the Opportunity Series: Strengthening the Economic Security of Women and Families in a Changing Economy. Download the report for free and take part in one of our many events that look at building economic security of women. The Opportunity Series is hosted by the Women of Color Policy Network at NYU Wagner.

Join us on November 2, for the next Opportunity Series event, Carrying the Load: The Impact of Child Care Subsidy Policies on the Economic Security of Women of Color. 

Although the welfare reform President Clinton signed into law seemed like a success, the recent recession has revealed just how deeply flawed it was from the beginning and has left many people unprepared for hard times.

The caseload for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the name we now give welfare) is about 5 million people. This number is up by about 1 million since the beginning of the recession, but it's still just a little over a third of what it was 15 years ago, before welfare reform.

According to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the number of homeless Americans is up by 61 percent since the recession began in December 2007. That figure will only continue to rise. The number of people living in poverty increased by 2.5 million during the first year of the recession, and it has surely risen further in 2009. The government reported recently that nearly 50 million Americans are experiencing what it delicately calls "food insecurity."

Read more

According to the new report by the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Los Angeles,low-income women not yet old enough for Medicare are four times more likely to be in poor or fair health--especially those in middle age and from ethnic backgrounds.

The study concluded that for lower-income women, "their limited discretionary income, combined with their poorer health status, reinforces the urgency of effective and consistent health insurance coverage and access to health services for all."

Read more.