Economic Security

Financial literacy for girls is more important than ever.

Posted on by Monica Byrd

As we wind down another school year and prepare for the summer, I’m reminded of the importance of mentoring and providing guidance to girls in all areas of life, especially financial literacy.  I feel encouraged to research and find information that is vital to the resources and images our girls and teen daughters receive and how they really feel about themselves and their financial future.

The recession is hard.  It is hard on parents and it is even harder on kids.  It’s a critical time and our girls need to be pointed in the right direction.

Parents may be struggling and may feel out of control, but at least they have some knowledge of their financial situation, some understanding of why all of this is happening. The kids are often left in the dark, with no explanation, confused and wondering why their family can’t afford the things that they want, the things that they need.

We have a responsibility to our children, to help them understand what is happening, to help them be more financially astute than our generation was, to get them on a better path.

Fortunately, there is a resource to help do this.  Girls, Inc of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area., a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, has created “Money Talks”, a financial literacy workshop that supplies girls with fun and engaging financial tools.

There will be a free "Money Talks" workshop in Washington, D.C. on June 27th from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. for girls age 10-15 and their parent/guardian.  The workshop is open to the public, with priority given to residents in Wards 1,5 and 7.  Registration is required.  To register or for more information, please contact Maryan at 202-806-1174 or maryan@girlsincdc.org by June 19th.

Please share this widely with your daughter, your sister, or any female youth in your family so that she can understand her true worth and be on her way to financial stability!

Monica Byrd has been a volunteer with Girls’, Inc. for the past two years.  In her professional life, she is a fashion and style professional.

Finally, the media realizes that the poor are impacted by the recession, too.

Posted on by Gwen Rubinstein

Finally, after all of my concern, conveyed through blogs like this one, about how the media isn’t covering the recession from the perspective of those hit the hardest—the poor—this is exactly the article I’ve been waiting to see for months to see! 

Leave it to Barbara Ehrenreich to remind us all that there are some who are "Too Poor to Make The News."

Gwen Rubinstein is a Program Officer at The Women’s Foundation.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending June 12, 2009)

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.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The Washington Post covers a study showing the health disparities experienced by black women and citing poverty as a major cause.

• In an op-ed in the Washington Times, guest columnist Rebecca Hagelin argues that fathers are essential to family well being and economic viability, and that mothers and children are more likely to fall into poverty without stable husbands and fathers.

• As reported in the Boston Globe, a joint health venture between a Catholic hospital chain and a healthcare company to provide insurance to low-income patients is facing criticism from Catholic leaders for providing abortion coverage.

• In a report on a summer camp program for low-income teens, the Los Angeles Times highlights a youngster who was able to overcome bulimia thanks in part to the support she found at the program.

• A farmers market profiled by the Boston Globe accepts vouchers from the Women, Infants, and Children program.

• A Fort Worth all-girls school will cater toward low-income students, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

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.

DCWA: Free job training programs throughout D.C. help build skills and self-sufficiency.

Posted on by Sarah Epstein

As unemployment in Washington, D.C. reaches nearly 10 percent, and once booming industries shut down, more and more people struggle to find new opportunities to earn a living wage. 

Many of these individuals lack the skills, education, or training necessary to attain jobs that will allow them to become self-sufficient. 

In response to these growing problems, the D.C. Women’s Agenda joined together with the D.C. Employment Justice Center–both of which are Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation–to sponsor an event featuring representatives from seven free job training programs.

More than 60 people attended.

Arhelia Finnie, the Trainee Services and Recruitment Coordinator from the DC Central Kitchen, described the Culinary Job Training program offered at her organization.  Students who attend this program participate in a 12-week training program and learn the culinary skills to work in hotels, restaurants, and other food facilities.  Trainees participate in hands-on kitchen training, visits from guest chefs, and classroom learning. Following the training, participants have internships in restaurants in order to experience the day-to-day tasks and challenges of working in the culinary field. If you would like more information about this program, email Ms. Finnie at afinnie@dccentralkitchen.org.  

Howard Brown, the Interim Director for Workforce Development at the University of D.C. spoke about their training program, where students receive the education and tools to become employed in four different careers: healthcare, administrative, hospitality, and medical. The UDC program offers different training programs for each career path described above. If you would like more information, email Mr. Brown at hmb1000@flash.net.  

Samira Cook, the Assistant Director of the Training and Education Division of the District of Columbia Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), represented the D.C. Government. Unlike the programs training in specific fields, Ms. Cook’s program assists D.C. residents to become entrepreneurs. The program provides training in creating a business plan, money management and business development. If you would like more information about this program, please e-mail Ms. Samira at samira.cook@dc.gov.  

Debony Heart, the Director of Programs for Byte Back, discussed the rapid growth of technology in the workplace and the need for technical and computer skills for jobs on the market today. Byte Back, provides low-income individuals with classes in typing, and computer literacy.  If you would like more information about this program, please e-mail Ms. Heart at dheart@byteback.org.  

Jacquelyn A. Moore is the Case Manager for The Washington Area Women in the Trades program, (a program sponsored by Wider Opportunities for Women, The YWCA and The AFL-CIO). The program helps women attain the necessary skills to enter non-traditional, often male- dominated jobs, to achieve financial security and self sufficiency. Following completion of the program, participants are placed in welding, steel working, and construction jobs. For more information, please contact Ms. jmoore@ywcana.org.  

Ellie Phillips, the Founder and Executive Producer of Beyond Talent, described the training program they offer. The program seeks to empower non-traditional high school graduates (individuals with a GED or other high school equivalent) to overcome barriers to higher education and employment to enable success. In addition to a mentoring program, Beyond Talent provides financial and other support to those seeking additional college education or vocational training. If you would like more information about this program, Ms. Phillips at phillips@beyondtalent.org.  

Emily Price, the Program Director of So Others May Eat’s (SOME) Center for Employment Training (a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation) explained that participants in the program focus on developing skills in one of three occupations: business and customer relations associate, service technician, or medical administrative assistant. The curriculum is developed based on the needs of employer in the fields enumerated above. Their job placement rate has been as high as 95 percent. If you would like more information about this program, please email Ms. Price at eprice@some.org.  

Attendees then had the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with the program representatives and many stayed to speak to them individually.  Participants collected brochures and information supplied by the representatives.

Unemployment is high, and the hope is that these programs will help residents take the first steps towards earning a self sufficient wage and achieving a greater quality of life.

Sarah Epstein is an intern at the DC Women’s Agenda, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation that is a coalition of advocacy organizations, service providers, and individuals working to promote the advancement of equality, safety and well-being for women and girls in the District. It is chaired by Wider Opportunities for Women.

Job training and creation should also be the solution for unemployed single mothers.

Posted on by Gwen Rubinstein

Thank you to the Joint Economic Committee for drawing attention to rising unemployment among women-headed families in its new report, “Women in the Recession: Working Mothers Face High Rates of Unemployment.”

With so much public attention being paid to job loss among men, which, don’t get me wrong, is and should be of deep concern, the challenges for women have too often been overlooked.

How many others – besides we at The Women’s Foundation and those who attended our May 2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing– would know that the national unemployment rate for women who are heads of households was 11 percent in May – higher than the 9.8 percent rate among men?.

Our national response to rising men’s unemployment, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors, has been to increase funding for job training and education and engage in job creation.  In fact, this was a key focus of the stimulus package passed earlier this year – and the President has also been talking about this even more in the last few days.

Don’t get me wrong – I think it is always good public policy to fund job training and job creation.  But I can’t help but compare this response to “welfare reform” of the 1990s, where low-income women heads of households were forced into “work first” and “rapid labor market attachment” models that basically forced them to take a job, any job, and offered only barriers to education and training. (This “work first” approach was also a hallmark of the Workforce Investment Act, which reformed the public workforce training system.)

A recent paper demonstrates quite strongly just how counterproductive this approach is.  Research concluded that welfare reform decreased the probability of both high school and college attendance among young adult women by 20 to 25 percent.  In other words, welfare policies have kept women from the very education and training that would help lift them and their families out of poverty and, ironically, offer more protection against unemployment. (Unemployment among individual without a high school diploma is 14.8 percent, compared to 4.4 percent for college graduates.)

I hope that as the Administration and Congress turn their attention to programs serving primarily women and that they will continue to be solidly committed to job training and creation.

Gwen Rubinstein is a Program Officer at The Women’s Foundation.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending June 5, 2009)

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.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• As part of a call to reduce immigration, Christian Science Monitor op-ed contributor Lawrence Harrison cites cultural “problems” that he claims immigrants bring from Latin America, including high rates of teen pregnancy and single motherhood

• The Washington Post reports on a program (funded by The Women’s Foundation!) that offers at-risk girls mentors and healthy activities.

• The Los Angeles Times profiles two sisters who benefit from a program that sends low-income girls to summer camp.

• Chicago Sun Times columnist Mary Mitchell, who is currently battling breast cancer, asks for more assistance for low-income women struggling with the disease.

• A Philadelphia Daily News story on the difficulty of getting into a special charter school for children from foster homes interviews a mother desperate to get her daughter into the program.

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.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending May 29, 2009)

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.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The New York Times profiles a nonprofit that provides free clothing to assist low-income women entering the work force.

• A Chicago Sun Times column focuses on Mama Brenda, a Chicago spoken word poet who performs outreach to single mothers and others in need.

• A new program is encouraging healthy eating by increasing the value of food stamps for low-income mothers who shop at farmers markets, according to the Washington Post.

• The Los Angeles Times notes that among the proposed cuts from California’s budget are treatment for breast and cervical cancer for illegal immigrants and women older than 65.

• As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, the economic downturn has forced a local program for low-income girls to merge with a parallel program for boys.

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.

2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing audio and presentations now available!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

We’re pleased to announce that the audio and presentations from the 2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing are now available online, thanks to our partner and co-sponsor, The Urban Institute.

This year’s briefing focused on the realities facing low-income women and their families in the current recession, as well as strategies to help them cope. 

Speakers at this year’s briefing included Heather Boushey from the Center for American Progress, Ed Lazere with the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Marty Schwartz with Vehicles for Change and more.

The briefing was also live-Tweeted @TheWomensFndtn with hashtag #SSRB.

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Memorial Day 2009 Holiday Edition)

Posted on by Lisa Kays

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.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• A Chicago Tribune article profiling a program that sends kids from a troubled area to summer camp to provide both enrichment and safety quotes a mom who is concerned for her son’s safety in their Chicago neighborhood.

• In a report appearing in USA Today, a single mom who lost her job is among those who send their children to a school catering specifically to homeless children.

• As covered by the Chicago Tribune, a clinic for low-income women is among those being closed due to financial constraints.

• In an op-ed in the Centre Daily Times, the author argues for stronger pre-natal health coverage for low-income women.

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.

Stepping Stones Research Briefing sneak peek: How is the recession impacting the poor in D.C.?

Posted on by Ed Lazere

When I was honored with an invitation to speak at the Stepping Stones Research Briefing, no one told me I’d have to figure out what I was going to talk about a week in advance (so that I could write a preview for this blog).

How unfair is that?

Of course, it was good to push me to start thinking about what I would share from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute’s recent research —what things are likely to be most interesting and relevant to you all.

So here is a preview of what you will hear from me on May 20.

I will start by exploring some recent economic indicators for the District of Columbia, including food stamp caseloads and unemployment. They are rising sharply, of course, which means poverty is on the rise, too.

The bad economic news this year comes on the heels of an “economic recovery,” during which poverty failed to decline in DC.  In fact, the number of poor residents rose through much of the early 2000s, even though the city was gaining jobs and residents and the real estate market was booming.

I will then talk about two pieces of upcoming DCFPI research. 

One focuses on the demographics of poor D.C. residents.  Not surprisingly, women-headed families with children face high poverty rates and represent a large share of D.C.’s low-income population, which means that D.C. cannot tackle poverty successfully without focusing on this group.  Our research finds that many of these single women with children are not working but that even when they have a job — even a full-time job — they earn so little that many remain poor.

A second DCFPI research project is based on focus groups we held last year with DC TANF recipients. Those conversations revealed that DC’s TANF cash benefits are inadequate to meet even the bare necessities, that the program’s employment preparation services or generally poor quality, and that TANF recipients have limited access to services that address personal barriers, despite policies on paper that suggest these services are available.

I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday at the 2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing!

Please R.S.V.P. here.

Then help us spread the word. We have an Event, "2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing," on Facebook. We’re also on Twitter @TheWomensFndtn.

Ed Lazere is the Executive Director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute.