~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A New Vision for Child Care

09/04/2015 Nativegrl77

Child care costs are out of reach for many American families. Here’s a solution.

The high cost of child care is squeezing many middle-class families and preventing low-income families from reaching the middle class. Across the country, millions of working families struggle to find affordable, high-quality child care. For most of those families, child care is an economic necessity: 65 percent of children under 6 years old have all of their available parents in the labor force.

But child care is out of reach for the families who need it. The average annual cost of center-based child care now exceeds $10,000. Worse yet, the cost of care is rising while wages remain stagnant. In a majority of states the annual cost of center-based child care exceeds annual tuition and fees for a public four year university. And the U.S is falling behind its competitors with the third-highest child care costs among developed countries, leading to lower earnings for families and less economic growth.

A new report from the Center for American Progress wants to change this by revamping the child care system to better support working families. Existing programs designed to help families afford child care, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, reach only a small portion of families and do not reflect the actual cost of center-based child care.

The Center for American Progress proposes a High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit to support economic security for low-income and middle class families and improve access to high-quality child care by:

Providing up to $14,000 per child to accurately reflect the cost of high quality child care. The credit would be paid directly to providers on a monthly basis to help families afford child care.
Asking families to contribute no more than 12% of their income. Family contribution would be determined on a sliding scale, with contribution capped at 12 percent of income.
Supporting quality child care. The credit would go to providers offering high-quality care. Parents would be able to choose the one that best meets their needs.
Complementing universal, voluntary preschool for all 3-and 4-year-olds. The High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit would complement CAP’s call for call for universal, voluntary preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, thus creating access to high-quality early learning programs from birth to kindergarten entry.

BOTTOM LINE: A lack of affordable, high-quality child care hampers economic growth by keeping parents from participating fully in the workforce. Our future workforce—today’s children—suffers when they are in low-quality, unstable child care. It’s time for the United States to follow the lead of other countries that have invested in child care to grow their economies and supports families with young children. The High-Quality Child Care Tax Credit will do just that.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Breaking News: Victory for Pregnant Workers at Supreme Court

09/03/2015 Nativegrl77

Take Action

Rally at the Supreme Court in Support of Peggy Young

ABB’s Elizabeth Gedmark MC’ing the rally in support of pregnant workers before the Supreme Court.

Photo Credit Jeffrey Martin

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Peggy Young, a pregnant worker, in the Young v. UPS case today.

Today marks a significant victory for Peggy Young and for the principle that pregnant women cannot be treated worse than many of their peers in the workplace. The Supreme Court’s ruling affirmed the intent of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, as we argued in our amicus brief this fall.

Peggy’s case is still alive, and will return to the lower court to determine, as the Court put it, “why, when the employer accommodated so many, could it not accomodate pregnant women as well?”

While we celebrate the Court’s opinion, pregnant workers seeking accommodations still face an uphill battle, in many instances. Today’s decision leaves much uncertainty surrounding their rights, especially when they have no way to know how other comparable workers are being treated.

Now that the Court has weighed in, it’s time for Congress to step up.

Please send an urgent message to Washington in support of pregnant workers.

Urge your representatives to support and co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would ensure that all workers with medical needs arising out of pregnancy have a right to accommodations—just as workers with disabilities do. States and cities across the country have passed similar laws and now Congress must act so that all women have the same right.

Today’s families rely on women’s salaries to make ends meet. They need the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act–they simply cannot afford anything less.

Thank you for all that you do to support women and families,

The A Better Balance Team,

Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Risha, Morenike, Rachel, Jake, Molly & Lynn

———————————-

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

More from 1600 Penn

09/03/2015 Nativegrl77

My Visit to Alaska: The Signpost for Climate Change

On Day 2 of his trip to Alaska, President Obama takes to his travelogue on Medium to describe Exit Glacier — a signpost of the impacts of climate change.

The Treasury Department’s Adam Szubin traveled to Israel, where he laid out why the Iran nuclear deal is so vital to our global security.

Check out the President’s personal photos from his trip to Alaska on the White House Instagram.

SEE MORE

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

wife and unborn baby

09/03/2015 Nativegrl77

Petitioning Colorado Governor, Colorado State House, Colorado State Senate

Allow special enrollment periods for pregnant women

Petition by Sean Jenks

Broomfield, Colorado

6,569

Supporters

Sign Sean’s petition

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Who’s funding attacks on climate scientists?

09/03/2015 Nativegrl77

Tell Big Coal to come clean on funding climate denial.

Union of Concerned Scientists

The latest revelations…

The nation’s second largest producer of coal has been forced to reveal its previously secret funding of special interest groups that attack climate scientists. Help expose other companies who are funding climate denial.

Take action today!

ACTION ALERT
Tell Big Coal: Come Clean on Funding Climate Denial

As you know, scientists whose work has unwelcome implications for powerful vested interests—such as coal companies—have increasingly found themselves under attack. Last month, bankruptcy forced the nation’s second largest coal producer, Alpha Natural Resources, to reveal its previously secret funding of lawyers and special interest groups that attack climate scientists.

Who else is secretly funding groups that deceive the public about the risks of climate change and attack scientists? Recently uncovered coal industry emails suggest that several other major coal companies are funding these attacks.

Unfortunately, corporations are not required to disclose this type of funding. It is time for fossil fuel companies to come clean.

Tell Big Coal to accept the science on climate change and publicly disclose information about the special interest groups they fund.

Independent science benefits us all, and we all stand to lose when it is attacked. Help expose the coal industry’s role in funding attacks on science.