Economy

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Green Jobs Signs_GreenForAll[dot]orgIn today’s rundown: Faith community leaders want the District to put more money towards green jobs.  | Local student are less than proficient in reading at a critical point and it could affect their futures.  | Donations to charities are on the rise in the first part of 2010.

— Leaders in the local faith community are asking the D.C. Council to put tens of millions of dollars towards green jobs.  They’ve chosen green jobs because the field is currently expanding and the federal government is willing to fund weatherization projects.  They told WAMU radio that if D.C. Council members don’t help create jobs they’ll be held accountable at the polls.

— Nearly two-thirds of students in Virginia and Maryland can’t read proficiently by the time they start the fourth grade.  83 percent of D.C. students are reading below proficient levels by the time they begin the fourth grade, a time when reading material becomes more complex.  According to a new report on nationwide reading levels there are links between early literacy and high school graduation rates and future economic success.  Click here for more.

— First lady Michelle Obama and Mexico’s first lady will tour a Silver Spring elementary school tomorrow. New Hampshire Estates Elementary School has been honored for having a focus on healthy living.  Many students at the school come from Central and South America.

— According to a new survey from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations to the nation’s biggest charities grew rapidly in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same time in 2009.  It could be a sign that many nonprofits are making a recovery from the fundraising troubles they suffered last year.

Photo credit: GreenForAll.org via Creative Commons.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Medical symbol [credit cogdogblog]In today’s rundown: D.C. could become the first jurisdiction to take advantage of new Medicaid health-care savings.  |  Two Grantee Partners are featured in a story about child trafficking.  |  The National Capital region has the second strongest economy in the country.

–The District has become the first jurisdiction to ask the federal government for permission to add thousands of low-income adults to the Medicaid program as part of the new federal health-care law.  If the request is approved, 35,000 D.C. residents would be switched from a city taxpayer-funded insurance program to the federally funded program.  Click here for more.

— The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area has been named the second strongest local metropolitan economy in the county, despite the economic downturn.  According to POLICOM Corp., this area ranks second only to Seattle.  Click here for the details.

— It is estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk of sex trafficking.  NPR’s Allison Keyes spoke with people from two Women’s Foundation Grantee Partners — The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and FAIR Fund — about the issue.  Click here to listen.

Photo credit: Cogdogblog via Creative Commons.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Purchase CNBC photoIn today’s rundown: How women and men think about retirement.  |  Dating violence on the rise at local colleges.  |  The dividing line between a healthy and not-so-healthy D.C.  |  A local middle school forms an all-girls robotics team with the help of some special mentors.

— Are women more worried about retirement than men?  CNBC posed the question to African American Giving Circle co-chair Donna Purchase and her daughter Deborah.  Click here to watch the story and find out how retirement concerns are affecting them.

— A career fair in D.C. for older workers drew thousands of resume-toting people to Nationals Park Stadium earlier this week.  More than 3,000 showed up for AARP’s “Promoting Yourself at 50+” event.  About half the people at the career fair were under the age of 50.  Click here for more.

— Dating violence is on the rise at local colleges, according to statistics from the FBI and universities in the Washington region.  Five out of eight local universities have seen an increase in sexual assaults.  They’re also reporting an increase in stalking and harassment.  Click here for more.

— The Anacostia River is the dividing line between District residents with poor diets and those with healthy diets.  At a conference earlier this week local officials found that residents living east of the river have access to fewer grocery stores and have a higher rate of obesity.  They also found that women in the District are more likely to be obese than men.  Click here to read more.

— D.C.’s Howard University Middle School has a new all-girls competitive robotics team.  The girls are getting started with help from the SpelBots — the campus robotics team from Spelman College in Atlanta.  Click here for the story.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: Asking local governments to keep social services in their budgets.  |  Local students try to solve the poverty problem.  |  More older women are returning to school.

— “Think twice before you slice” — that’s the message from nonprofits to local governments that are making important budget decisions.  Chuck Bean from the Nonprofit Roundtable and Glen O’Gilvie from the Center for Nonprofit Advancement air their concerns on WAMU in this commentary.

— Elementary school students in one of Washington, D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods are discussing solutions to poverty as part of a program called the Poverty Project.  Click here to find out what they’ve come up with so far.

— The number of older, African American women returning to school is on the rise.  In this column, Courtland Milloy speaks with some women who are getting advanced degrees and finds out why they went back to school.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: A post-Mother’s Day wish for better education, training and jobs.  |  A new report on how working moms are handling the recession.  |  A look at who benefits most from pre-K.  |  Affordable housing renovations in the District.

— With the economy continuing to take a toll on low-income, women-headed families in particular, The Women’s Foundation’s Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat outlines the ways we can remove barriers to education, training and jobs for those who need it most in this WAMU commentary.

— How are working mothers handling the recession?  This report takes an updated look at the employment situations of working women with children under the age of 18. Among the findings: one in three working mothers was the only job holder in her family and single mothers struggled with high unemployment.  The report includes unpublished data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

— A new study in Montgomery County found that boys and African Americans of both genders benefit more from full-day pre-kindergarten.  According to this Washington Post article, Maryland schools are among the most generous in the nation when it comes to spending on early childhood.

— Starting next week, renovations will begin on the District’s oldest garden-style apartment complex.  Webster Gardens will be renovated into affordable housing using federal money earmarked to help local agencies fund projects stalled during the recession.  Click here for details.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

SaveOurSafetyNet RallyIn today’s rundown: D.C. Council members wear red capes and support progressive changes to the budget.  |  D.C.’s streetcars could be free in some parts of the city.  |  Local home prices could continue to decline through next year.

— At a rally at city hall yesterday, members of the D.C. Council put on red capes and joined Save Our Safety Net and the Fair Budget Coalition to declare their support for proposed progressive solutions to the District’s budget issues.  Click here to read more about the council members who participated and to learn about the budget proposals.

— The streetcars coming to the District in the next two years may be free for riders in some parts of town.  The D.C. Department of Transportation says riders may be able to hop on and off the trolleys for free in some areas of the city.  The city has already started laying the tracks for the street cars in Anacostia and on H Street in Northeast D.C.  Click here for more.

— Despite a recent increase in home sales and prices, the Washington metropolitan area is still at risk for drops in home prices through the end of 2011, according to a new report from a mortgage insurance company.  Click here for details.

Photo credit: Save Our Safety Net

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Credit-cardsIn today’s rundown: A study finds that more Latino families depend on credit cards.  |  More Americans are depending on government aid to keep from slipping into poverty.  |  The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit ends next week.

— A recent study has found that a rising number of Latinos are depending on credit cards to make ends meet.  The National Council of La Raza encourages using credit cards to build good credit, but cautions against using them for daily purchases.  Click here for details of the study.

— Without government aid, economists say many formerly middle-class Americans are at risk of slipping into poverty, even as economic conditions improve.  Click here for more.

— The Virginia General Assembly has accepted proposals from the governor to restrict state funding for abortions, expand spending on economic development and raise fines for speeders, but lawmakers resisted some cuts the governor had sought for social services.  Click for details.

— The extended First-Time Homebuyer Credit ends on April 30th.  Click here for more on the deadline and the application process.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: The D.C. Council passes emergency legislation to help foster families.  |  Why do women still earn less than men?  |  Remembering Dorothy Height and her fight for equality.

— According to the Washington Post, “the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation on Tuesday intended to make it easier for foster families to provide permanent homes for children, especially older ones, who often languish in the child welfare system.”  Click here to learn more about the subsidy that’s being extended to help foster families and children.

— Why do women still earn less than men? Time explored that question as we marked Equal Pay Day.  Click here for the answer.

— For civil rights leader Dorothy Height, equality went beyond skin color.  A day after her death, NBC4 takes a look at her remarkable life and her fight for equality for everyone.

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In today’s rundown: Dorothy I. Height, a leader in the gender and civil rights movements, has died.  |  Today is Equal Pay Day.  |  The League of Women Voters withdraws its support from a bill that would give the District a vote in Congress.  |  Alexandria officials are worried the city is losing its racial and economic diversity.

— Dorothy I. Height, a founding member of the civil rights movement who fought for racial and gender equality, has died at the age of 98.  As a civil rights activist, Ms. Height began participating in protests in the 1930s.  She also worked to overcome gender bias at a time that predated the women’s rights movement.  She was invited to the White House in 1963 to watch President John F. Kennedy sign the Equal Pay Act.  To read more about Dorothy Height and her work, please click here.

— Today is Equal Pay Day, a day that reminds us that the more than 60 million women who work in this country are suffering economically because equal pay is not a reality.  Click here to read about the continuing pay gap and why shortchanging women shortchanges all of us.

— The League of Women Voters has announced that it will not support a bill pending in Congress that would give the District a vote in Congress but would also weaken the city’s gun laws.  According to a statement: “asking citizens to sacrifice their safety in order to have representation in Congress is unacceptable.”  Click here for more.

— Officials in Alexandria are concerned that the city has become whiter, wealthier and more expensive during the past decade.  Local officials say they’re worried that the city will lose its racial and economic diversity.  Click here for details.

You can get more information and news from The Women’s Foundation here:
Facebook-Button-psd42116 twitter-button[shiny t button] LinkedIn_Button [shiny in button] WAWF enews

The Daily Rundown — The Latest News Affecting Women & Girls in Our Region

Posted on by Mariah Craven

Metro_PhotoIn today’s rundown: Another proposed increase in Metro fares could disproportionately affect the riders who earn the least and depend the most on public transportation.  | Virginia lost more jobs in February than any other state.  Maryland was not far behind.

— A proposal to increase fares again on the Metro would disproportionately affect commuters who depend on bus transportation and are least able to pay, according to some riders.  Metro data has found that bus riders earn less than train riders and are more dependent on Metro’s services.  Click here for details on the data.  Riders will be able to voice their opinions at public hearings throughout the metro area.  Click here for the schedule.

— Virginia lost more jobs in February than any other state.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the commonwealth lost 32,600 positions last month.  Maryland was fifth, losing 13,800 jobs in February.  Overall, the District continues to have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country — 11.9 percent.  Click here for more details.

Got something to say?  Please leave a comment below or join the conversation at www.Facebook.com/TheWomensFoundation.