Jan 11 2010
The 2009 Joint Economic Report
Report of the Joint Economic Committee Congress of the United States on the 2009 Economic Report of the President Together With Minority Views
Oct 08 2009
REPORT UPDATE: Comprehensive Health Insurance Reform: An Essential Prescription for Women.
The status-quo health insurance system is serving women poorly. An estimated 64 million women lack adequate health insurance. Over half of all medical bankruptcies are filed by female-headed households. For too many women and their families today, quality, affordable health care is out of reach.
Women are more vulnerable to high health care costs than men. Several factors explain why. First, women’s health needs differ from men’s, so women are obliged to interact more regularly with the health care system – regardless of whether they have adequate insurance coverage or not. Second, women are more likely to be economically vulnerable and therefore face devastating consequences when faced with a mounting pile of medical bills. The inability of the current system to adequately serve women’s health care needs has come at great expense. One recent study estimates that women’s chronic disease conditions cost hundreds of billions of dollars...
American families are experiencing very difficult economic times – the toughest in terms of stagnant incomes since World War II. Over the 2000-2008 period, the economic policies pursued during the previous administration left most families behind and ill-prepared to weather the severity of the current recession. During the Bush administration, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by nearly 8.2 million; and instead of growing, incomes for families in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution ladder actually fell. One out of every eight Americans was living below the federal poverty line in 2008. Also, during the eight years of the Bush administration, the ranks of the uninsured grew by 20.6 percent. The cost of health insurance has risen steadily, putting pressure on employers and straining cash-strapped American families.
Sep 10 2009
Graph: Effect of the Recovery Act on GDP in 2009
Quarterly Percentage Change in GDP at a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate
Aug 21 2009
State Unemployment Rates: July 2009
In the nineteen months between December 2007 and July 2009, the economy shed 6.7 million jobs, the national unemployment rate spiked 4.5 percentage points to 9.4 percent, and the unemployment rate rose in every state and the District of Columbia. In July, 8 states posted statistically significant over-the-month increases in their jobless rates while 2 states (Minnesota and Vermont) posted statistically significant over-the-month decreases in their jobless rates. Although unemployment rates in the remaining states were essentially unchanged in July, workers across the country continue to experience distressed levels of unemployment. In July, the unemployment rate was 10.0 percent or higher in 15 states and the District of Columbia, and 3 states (Michigan, Rhode Island, and Nevada) had unemployment rates of 12.0 percent or higher.
Working women have received pink slips in growing numbers over the course of the current recession, which began in December 2007. For the first 3 months of the recession, when job losses were relatively light, women actually gained rather than lost jobs. This uptick in women’s employment is similar to what has happened in previous recessions. However, in August 2008, this recession began to look quite different from past downturns. Women’s job losses picked up pace to become a significant fraction of the total monthly job losses.
As women’s job losses have accelerated, so have the job losses for working mothers. A Joint Economic Committee analysis of published and unpublished data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that increases in unemployment during this recession have been especially steep for female heads of household – mothers who are solely responsible for maintaining their families’ economic security.
