Tag: basic living standards

Protecting Basic Living Standards for LGBTQ People

The following article by Caitlin Rooney, Charlie Whittington and Laura E. Durso was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 13 2018:

Introduction and summary

“In the nearly seven years since I transitioned, I have been unemployed, surviving off the charity of friends and family, and government assistance when I could get it. I have over 20 years of experience in my field, yet I cannot even land a part-time retail position.”

— Respondent to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey1

A transgender father holds his 1-year-old daughter on her birthday, March 2017, in Michigan.

Employment discrimination, along with discrimination in housing and health care, is all too common in the LGBTQ community. It can impede LGBTQ people’s ability to attain and maintain economic security. That’s why it’s crucial that LGBTQ people have access to supports that help them put food on the table, access health care, and put a roof over their heads. Despite high need for public benefits in the LGBTQ community, access to these benefits is far from assured. At the state and federal levels, there are recent and ongoing attacks on programs that ensure basic living standards, including the implementation of harsh work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid and proposed funding cuts to SNAP in the House farm bill.2 These efforts increase the urgency to examine how cuts to benefits such as nutrition assistance and Medicaid could affect the LGBTQ community. Continue reading “Protecting Basic Living Standards for LGBTQ People”

Ensuring Basic Living Standards for All

The following article by John Halpin and Karl Agne was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 7, 2018:

Voter Attitudes Toward Government Assistance and Social Insurance Programs in the Trump Era

A man shops at a supermarket in Montebello, California, September 2017. Credit: Getty/Frederic J. Brown

Overview

American voters reject congressional proposals to cut health care, housing, education, and nutrition assistance programs and favor policies that invest in good jobs and economic security.

Introduction and summary

Prior to the arrival of President Donald Trump’s second budget blueprint in February, the Center for American Progress, working with GBA Strategies, set out to assess current attitudes among American voters on a range of issues related to government assistance and social insurance programs. The study sought to answer a number of questions about public opinion on the social safety net; people’s day-to-day economic lives; and reactions to proposals to increase jobs, wages, and economic security for families. Continue reading “Ensuring Basic Living Standards for All”