Author: The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Friday Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending November 21, 2008)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here are this week’s top stories on women and poverty:

• Job cutbacks are causing parents to consider sacrificing daycare, as noted by The Chicago Tribune.

• “A Welcome Drop”: The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports a significant reduction in local teen pregnancy.

• The Washington Post calls attention to the role of poverty in a changing debate on abortion.

• According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the souring economy leads to divorce and affects child support payments.

• Social Security is called a “women’s issue” in a story by The Telegraph Herald.

• The Oregonian argues that government job growth programs must focus on jobs for women.

• Families and working moms are among Dallas’ growing homeless population, according to The Dallas Morning News.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.

To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Friday News Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity and The Women’s Foundation are teaming up to provide the latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families!

Spotlight, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty each week.

The country’s economic downturn has taken a particularly harsh toll on low-income families. During this past campaign season, Spotlight tracked the growing focus on the issues of poverty and economic opportunity by candidates running for office. Now, with the transition to a new president and Congress, Spotlight has re-launched its Web site to ensure that our political leaders take significant actions to follow though on their pledges.

Our new site features a section focused on the role of family well-being in fighting poverty, including key research, analysis and news on efforts to strengthen America’s poor working families, the majority of which are headed by single mothers. We will also continue to highlight these issues in our “Exclusive Commentary” section. Just this week, Andrea Kane, senior director for policy and partnerships at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, contributed a piece detailed the link between poverty and unplanned pregnancy.

Spotlight will remain the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Here are this week’s top stories on women and poverty:

o Single working moms have had it toughest, reports the New York Times, in a piece about how the working poor have been especially hard hit during the economic crisis.

o The Contra Costa Times covers a dispute between California and the federal government that may imperil a successful family planning program for the poor.

o The economic downturn is creating tension within working families (from the Toledo Blade).

o The Wichita Falls Times-Record writes about a child care agency that helps single working parents provide for their kids during a meager holiday season.

o Parents, many of them single moms, have been forced to pull kids from day care during the economic crisis, according to the Buffalo News.

o The Kansas City Star covers a study of women’s career and financial literacy.

o The Detroit News says that the growing homeless population includes large numbers of pregnant women and families.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for Spotlight’s weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.