Poverty

Poverty Built into BC's System

Posted by Shemuses from The Tyee

Two-year study looks at welfare policies' effects on people.

The report calls her Lorraine. After being cut off welfare for a reason she said was unfair, she had no income. She lost her home, started skipping more meals to save money and returned to prostitution. In hopes of leaving the sex trade, she went back to an abusive ex-partner who assaulted her badly enough to break some of her bones.

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A neighbourhood speaks - and hears its own voice

Posted by Shemuses from Globe and Mail

'I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them," photographer Diane Arbus once wrote. It's a comment that came repeatedly to mind reading Hope in Shadows, a collection of photographs taken and stories told by residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The book, which comes out next month, grew from a popular program run over the past five years by the Pivot Legal Society, a non-profit legal advocacy organization based in the neighbourhood. Since 2003, Pivot has been handing out cameras to residents and assembling pictures in a calendar. If you live or work in the downtown area, Gastown or Yaletown in particular, you've likely bought one of these from a street vendor at some point.

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From Welfare Shift in ’96, a Reminder for Clinton

Posted by Shemuses from New York Times

In the summer of 1996, President Bill Clinton delivered on his pledge to "end welfare as we know it." Despite howls of protest from some liberals, he signed into law a bill forcing recipients to work and imposing a five-year limit on cash assistance. Skip to next paragraph Blog The Caucus The CaucusThe latest political news from around the nation. Join the discussion. * Candidate Topic Pages * More Politics News Todd Rosenberg The measure weakened the friendship of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Marian Wright Edelman, shown in 1999. As first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton supported her husband's decision, drawing the wrath of old friends from her days as an advocate for poor children.

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As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record

Posted by Shemuses from New York Times

Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.

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What microloans miss

Posted by Jeff from MSNBC

But, on their own, they often don’t do much to make poor countries richer. This isn’t because microloans don’t work; it’s because of how they work. The idealized view of microfinance is that budding entrepreneurs use the loans to start and grow businesses — expanding operations, boosting inventory, and so on. The reality is more complicated.

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Why Democrats Should Not Neglect the Deep South

Posted by Villagenyc from OpEdNews

Still, during national elections, the more progressive party, the Democrats, basically write off the South as un-winnable during national elections which in turn, further fuels a sense that parts of this nation have been truly left behind.

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"$5 iPod" follows in $100 laptop tradition

Posted by ArthurTao

Bridging the Information and Literacy Divide with a $5 audio player and content network for the poorest of the world.

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