Legal Momentum Briefing Room

Briefing Highlights Harsh Impact of Sanctions on Nation’s Neediest Families

On September 30th, Legal Momentum held a Congressional Briefing to discuss the implications highlighted in Legal Momentum Senior Staff Attorney Tim Casey’s recent report The Sanction Epidemic in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. The briefing also provided an opportunity for Legal Momentum to call for the reauthorization and reform of the TANF Program, which has been temporarily extended through December 3, 2010. Though the briefing was held the day after Congress adjourned, the room was packed to capacity. Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA), Chair of the Income and Family Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, shared remarks on the original impetus behind the TANF Program and the hardships sanctions often cause TANF recipients. Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI) also joined the panel and shared both her experience as former Wisconsin state senator who tried to stem some of the more draconian aspects of the Wisconsin welfare program and as a former welfare recipient. More >>.

Legal Momentum Applauds Senator Baucus's Call to Reform TANF

On Tuesday, as the Senate Finance Committee held the first of what is expected to be a series of hearings on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, its Chairman Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont) decried TANF’s shortfalls and urged Congress to improve the Program.

As Legal Momentum recently noted, 2009 Census data demonstrate that poverty in America is at its highest point since 1994. Adult women are thirty-two percent more likely to be poor than adult men. Yet while the number of poor Americans has increased, the TANF Program has not expanded to meet poor families’ needs, Legal Momentum analysis demonstrates.

Senator Baucus understands that TANF has failed the American poor in this recession: “A welfare system focused on jobs can work when there are plenty of jobs,” he stated. “But that kind of system poses harsh realities when a recession sets in.” He explained that while other safety net programs – such as Food Stamps and Medicaid – have automatically expanded to meet the needs of Americans affected by the Great Recession, TANF has not.

In his statement, Senator Baucus also called for “a new conversation on women and poverty,” insisting that Congress, “talk about how we can hold those who need help, and not turn away.”

Legal Momentum applauds Senator Baucus for addressing TANF’s shortfalls, particularly for women and families. We agree that “A safety net to prevent poverty is only as good as it is in hard times.”

The Great Recession has proved that TANF is not an adequate safety net. Congress must improve the TANF Program so that all Americans have access to this safeguard in hard times.

Number of Poor Rises to All Time High, Women Hardest Hit

This week, the Census Bureau released data showing that the number of poor people living in the US is at an all time high. More Americans now live in poverty than during the 51 years in which poverty has been measured. 43.6 million Americans lived below the poverty level of $22,000 for a family of four in 2009. More than one in five children lived in poverty, and one in three for African American children. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these rates would be even more alarming if it were not for unemployment benefits. Without unemployment benefits, the number of people in poverty would have been higher by 3.3 million.

Poverty hits women hardest, and a large gender poverty gap has persisted since poverty measurement began. Adult women were thirty two percent more likely to be poor than adult men in 2009, with a poverty rate of 13.9% compared to the 10.5% rate for men. 16.4 million adult women were poor, compared to 11.7 million adult men. A report by Legal Momentum, entitled "Reading Between the Lines: Women's Poverty in the United States, 2009," details this disparity.

Yet as millions of Americans suffer from poverty, especially women and children, those most in need are often unable to access government assistance. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the main federal welfare program, has repeatedly failed to serve as a safety net for these individuals. In January, Legal Momentum wrote:

“The number of persons receiving TANF increased just 12% over the first twenty two months of the recession, rising from 3,833,449 in December 2007 (excluding Michigan) to 4,286,905 in September 2009 (excluding Michigan). This 12% TANF increase was far less than the growth in the real need for assistance implied by the increase over this same twenty two month period of 35% in the number of Food Stamp recipients (from 27.56 million to 37.18 million) and of 96% in the unemployment rate (from 5.0% to 9.8%). Even before the recession began, TANF was reaching only a minority of eligible families and an even smaller minority of poor families.”

Interim Legal Momentum President Rachael N. Pine states, “The increased poverty and the continuing gender poverty gap underscore the need for a social safety net that is accessible and adequate. Currently, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the national welfare program for families with children, is neither: only a minority of eligible poor families are receiving benefits and the assistance provided fails to cover even the most basic essentials of food and shelter."

Indeed, despite the desperate need for assistance, Americans are often unable to access the very help they require. Last December, Legal Momentum and the Institute for Policy Studies released a report, "Battered by the Storm: How the Safety Net Is Failing Americans and How to Fix It," which argues that despite the continued rise of the economic crisis, America’s social safety net is not sufficiently supporting Americans in need. TANF has barely increased since the onslaught of the recession, and even programs that have expanded, such as unemployment insurance, still fail to assist nearly half of the unemployed. Federal action must be taken to make TANF, along with all other social assistance programs, more accessible and responsive at such a critical time. As poverty rises, social safety nets must be in place to help all in need, particularly women and children.
 

• To read Legal Momentum’s report, "Reading Between the Lines: Women's Poverty in the United States, 2009," click here.
• To learn more about Legal Momentum’s work to strengthen the social safety and reform TANF, click here.
• To read Legal Momentum’s report, "Battered by the Storm: How the Safety Net is Failing Americans and How to Fix It," click here.

New Law in New York Offers Long-Overdue Protections to Domestic Workers, Many of Whom Are Women

Just before Labor Day, Governor David Paterson signed the historic Domestic Workers Bill of Rights into law. The law is the first of its kind to be passed in the United States, and will make major strides towards protection within the workplace. In certain circumstances, the law will provide paid sick and vacation days, overtime pay, and one day of rest per week, affecting New York’s 200,000 domestic workers.

Ninety-three percent of domestic workers are women and 95% are women of color, especially immigrants from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Latin America. A study by Domestic Workers United found that 26% of domestic workers make less than minimum wage and live below the poverty line. Thirty-three percent say they have been abused verbally or physically. Sixty-seven percent reported receiving overtime pay sporadically, if at all, and only 10% receive health insurance coverage from their employer. Thus, it is the already marginalized communities who are the ones most affected by workplace conditions.

After the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was passed by the Senate in June, Legal Momentum wrote:

“This bill is a major victory and critical step towards the protection of domestic workers within the workplace. Domestic workers make up one of the most essential, but hidden and unprotected, workforces in the United States. Without workplace protections, domestic workers are often left powerless to their boss’ demands, which many say can vary drastically. Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, described this workforce as a ‘wild west,’ in which, ‘You have some employers that are very good and some that are not, and there is nothing mediating that relationship,” she said. “So early on, workers said, ‘We need basic protections and guidelines so that we won’t be at the whim and mercy of our employers.’ ”

In a recent article by ColorLines, Rinku Sen notes that the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights should serve as a model for the way in which lawmakers and organizers think about labor rights in our current time. Sen traces the history of workers’ exclusion from labor legislation, from domestic labor to agricultural workers – all professions largely made up of people of color and/or women. The struggles of these workers have generally been sidelined by major unions. Indeed, the victory of the law came from the long-term organizing of Domestic Worker United (DWU) and the New York Domestic Workers Justice Coalition, two workers collectives that are not unions.

Sen also argues that labor rights and the role of unprotected workers are becoming an increasingly relevant issue – “As our economy continues shifting toward service and information industries, more and more formerly middle-class and white workers have seen their jobs similarly “contingentized” as domestic workers and day laborers. As employers load up on temporary, subcontracted and part-time workers rather than full-time employees, they avoid paying into Social Security and providing unemployment insurance, health coverage, and workers’ compensation. The can even avoid providing vacation or sick days.”

Domestic workers are an invisible and exploited workforce that make our communities and families run. The passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is a major step towards ensuring the protection of these workers, who are largely made up of women and people of color. As we move forward, labor rights must incorporate all workforces, not only the most traditional. When domestic workers are overlooked, it is overwhelmingly women of color who suffer. The law paves the way for future efforts to protect all workers from exploitation and abuse.

• To read ColorLines' “Domestic Workers Lead the Way to 21st Century Labor Rights,” click here.

• For more information on the bill, read The New York Times, “For Nannies, Hope for Workplace Protection” here.

Wal-Mart's Female Employees Deserve Their Day in Court

In 2001, several female Wal-Mart employees discovered that their male counterparts were paid more for comparable jobs and were promoted more often. The female employees decided to sue their employer collectively under Title VII, the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on sex – but the case has never been heard on its merits. For almost ten years Wal-Mart has insisted that its one million female employees do not constitute a class suffering from pay discrimination.

The federal district court judge who heard the case in 2004 ruled that they did. In April 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

Now Wal-Mart has filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Supreme Court, in hopes that the court will strike down the Ninth Circuit’s ruling. If the Supreme Court does not uphold the Ninth Circuit’s decision, each woman employee would have to file individual suits against the largest corporation and private employer in the United States.

Wal-Mart’s employment statistics clearly demonstrate that their women employees were paid less than their male counterparts in every region of the country for the same jobs. Legal Momentum agrees with The New York Times Editorial Board – the Supreme Court should uphold the Ninth Circuit’s ruling to allow Wal-Mart’s female employees to proceed as a class. It is clear that this case should be heard on its merits. All of Wal-Mart’s female employees deserve their day in court.

Learn more about Legal Momentums' work on Employment Rights for women.