Creating Pathways to Opportunity

Transcription

1 Creating Pathways to Opportunity OCTOBER 2011

2 Yes, we are rugged individualists. Yes, we are strong and self-reliant. And it has been the drive and initiative of our workers and entrepreneurs that has made this economy the engine and the envy of the world. But there s always been another thread running throughout our history a belief that we re all connected, and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation. - President Barack Obama, September 8, P a g e

3 President Obama has called for our Nation to out innovate, out educate, and out build the rest of the world. To answer this call, we must ensure that all Americans have the foundation and opportunities they need to build a strong economic life. In recent years, too many American families have lost economic ground. The recession of the late 2000s has left many middle class families facing unemployment and economic hardship, even causing them to fall into poverty. Many more families were struggling on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder long before the recession began, and are falling even farther behind today. Over the decade ending in 2009, the median family income fell by $3,800. And the gap between the wealthiest Americans and those with the least is growing wider every day making the task of climbing into the middle class tougher than ever before. Since 1980, real median household income has grown 4 times faster for the top 10 percent of households as it has for middle-income households. The share of income going to the top 10 percent has increased by 32 percent. Reductions in household income, combined with prolonged levels of high unemployment, have caused 2.6 million Americans to fall into poverty from 2009 to Ultimately, the middle-class and low-income Americans must work harder and longer just to keep up. When families fall out of the middle class or can t reach it in the first place our Nation suffers. These numbers are especially stark for minority communities: over 30 percent of Hispanic, African American, American Indian and Alaska Native children today live in poverty. Too many of our children live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, marked by high unemployment rates, rampant crime, health disparities, inadequate early care and education, struggling schools, and capital disinvestment. We cannot out innovate, out educate, and out build the rest of the world without the contributions of every American. The cost is too great to leave countless Americans on the sidelines as we compete in a global economy. We must continue to demand the American standard of personal responsibility from all, but we must also ensure that when our neighbors hold up their end of the bargain as hardworking students, responsible parents, and pavement-pounding job-seekers they can realize the prosperity of the American Dream. Since taking office, President Obama has focused on dramatically expanding access to opportunity for all Americans. This focus has been accompanied by a new approach to governing one that seeks to unlock individual and collective potential; that rewards results, evidence and best practices over ideology; that puts people and places over programs; that rewards work and supports skill-building; and that leverages the power unleashed when we join forces across all sectors government, business, and non-profits, both community-based and national recognizing we are strongest when we work together. This report describes the many ways the Administration has fought to make sure that all Americans have the tools to weather these difficult economic times and a clear pathway to 2 P a g e

4 achieve economic stability and security. Central to this commitment going forward is the American Jobs Act, a key part of President Obama s plan to spur economic growth and put Americans back to work. 3 P a g e

5 LOOKING FORWARD: THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. -President Barack Obama, September 8, 2011 Extending unemployment insurance that will prevent 6 million Americans looking for work from losing their benefits, while encouraging reforms that will help get the long-term unemployed back to work, armed with relevant lifelong skills. Cutting payroll taxes in half for 160 million workers next year by expanding the payroll tax cut passed last year to cut workers payroll taxes in half in 2012 providing a $1,500 tax cut to a typical American family, without negatively impacting the Social Security Trust Fund. Providing a tax credit to provide up to $4,000 per worker for businesses who hire individuals who have been looking for a job for 6 months or more. Allowing more Americans to refinance their mortgages at today s near 4 percent interest rates, which can put more than $2,000 a year into a family s pocket. Expanding job opportunities for low-income youth and adults through successful approaches to subsidized employment, innovative training programs and summer/yearround jobs for youth. Preventing up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, by investing $35 billion to prevent layoffs of teachers, while supporting the hiring of tens of thousands more and keeping cops and firefighters on the job. Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools across the country with an emphasis on school districts with the largest numbers of children in poverty, supporting new science labs, Internet-ready classrooms and renovations at schools across the country, in rural, urban, and tribal communities. Investing in Project Rebuild, a $15 billion fund to rehabilitate and refurbish hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes and businesses in communities that have been hardest hit by the housing crisis. This investment will also create nearly 200,000 construction jobs. Expanding infrastructure employment opportunities for minorities, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Immediate investments in infrastructure and a bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank will put hundreds of thousands of workers back on the job while modernizing our roads, rail, airports, and waterways. The American Jobs Act is fully paid for as part of the President s long term deficit reduction plan. 4 P a g e

6 INTRODUCTION Since his first day in office, President Obama has taken important steps to create opportunities for all Americans to climb the ladder into the middle class. The President s policies have helped vulnerable Americans through the financial crisis, recession, and turbulent economy by making sure they have the resources they need to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, while also creating jobs and putting money back into the pockets of low-income workers. These initiatives support long-term reforms in areas from education to neighborhood revitalization that will grow the middle class. We can see evidence of the success of the President s efforts in measures of poverty that take into account tax relief and non-cash benefits expanded to respond in the depths of the recession. By these measures, which are not captured in the official poverty statistics, but are recommended by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and other independent experts, more than 6 million Americans in 2009 were saved from tipping into poverty by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Tax Relief for All Working Americans Upon taking office, President Obama provided relief to working families through a series of new and expanded tax credits. The President proposed and enacted a new tax credit, Making Work Pay, which provided enough income to keep 1.6 million Americans out of poverty, and he also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, also saving 1.6 million Americans from poverty. And these provisions provided relief to over a hundred million more. Last December the President fought for and won extensions of key tax credits, such as the expanded EITC and CTC measures that put more money in the pockets of nearly 16 million American families. Not only that, but the President also secured a payroll tax cut that amounted to a 2 percent raise for working Americans through 2011 and for those still looking for work he won a one-year extension of unemployment insurance. Because every worker around 160 million in total must pay payroll taxes, the President provided tax relief to all working Americans. And because lower-income and middle class families earn a higher share of their income from wages and salaries (as opposed to capital gains on investments, which are not subject to payroll taxes) and because the pay roll tax cut is limited to the first $106,800 in wages (the Social Security taxable maximum) payroll tax cuts are an especially progressive form of relief. Not only have these measures provided an important boost to the economy, but they have also provided relief to lower-income families. Through all of these measures, a typical family earning around $30,000 per year will have received around $3,600 in tax relief over the President s first term. 5 P a g e

7 Expanded and Extended Unemployment Insurance and Nutrition Assistance The financial crisis and recession caused many to lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Programs like unemployment insurance have proven a vital lifeline for these individuals. The expansion of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed through the Recovery Act helped over 17 million unemployed workers by the end of 2010 and the December Tax Deal s extension of UI kept 7 million Americans from losing their benefits during In fact, in 2009 the UI program as a whole kept approximately 4.8 million people out of poverty, with the extension of emergency benefits under the Recovery Act responsible for lifting 2.2 million of these Americans out of poverty. President Obama also enhanced and expanded the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure that the 45 million individuals that participate each month continued to have the means to put food on the table. The Recovery Act investments in the SNAP program kept an additional 3.9 million people, including 1.7 million children, above the poverty line in The benefits of SNAP go beyond those 45 million participants; the program also helps the broader economy by boosting consumer spending. For every $5 spent in new SNAP benefits, up to $9 in economic activity is generated. Kept Americans in the their Homes During a Housing and Economic Crisis When the President took office in January of 2009, the housing market had seen major losses for 30 straight months, slashing home equity in half which combined with the recession left many communities struggling economically. Since then, the Administration has taken critical steps to mitigate the impact of the crisis and revitalize communities most in need. To begin rebuilding our housing market and economy, the Administration jumpstarted mortgage loan modifications, which help to keep families in their homes. More than 4 million families have had their mortgages permanently modified since April, 2009 nearly twice the number of foreclosures which occurred in that time. To help over 1 million Americans avoid homelessness, the President provided $1.5 billion through the Recovery Act for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. 6 P a g e Invested in Early Education and Spurred K-12 Reforms with Race to the Top The President has made historic investments to ensure that all children enter school ready to learn and all Americans have access to a complete and competitive education, from cradle to career. President Obama has recognized the critical need to provide all children and

8 families access to affordable, safe, high quality early childhood education and care. The Obama Administration has made historic investments in Head Start and Early Head Start and child care assistance programs, which allowed over 360,000 more kids access to these critical programs. The Administration has also launched a new $500 million Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge competition to bring an emphasis on innovation and quality across all state early childhood education programs. To ensure quality education from kindergarten through high school, President Obama created Race to the Top to spur systemic reform and embrace innovative approaches to teaching and learning in America s schools. As a result of the groundbreaking initiative, over 40 states have raised standards, improved assessments, or invested in teachers to ensure that all of our children receive a high-quality education. Made College More Affordable and Accessible The President has set the goal of the U.S. being number one in college attainment by To achieve this goal and prepare students who can compete in the 21 st century global economy, the Obama Administration has championed bold and comprehensive reform of student loans that will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade, help pay for programs that boost college completion, and provide significant support for community colleges and minority serving institutions. To make college more affordable, the President has dramatically increased Pell Grant funding, increasing awards to millions of postsecondary students. The President also created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which doubled the value of tax credits for higher education, is partially refundable thus expanding educational tax incentives to many low-income families for the first time, and has eased college costs for over 9 million families. Together these represent the largest investments in higher education since the passage of the G.I. Bill. Developed Pathways to Employment for Low-Income Adults and Youth To encourage continued skill-building and on-ramps to economic opportunity, President Obama, through the Recovery Act, invested in summer and year-round jobs for disadvantaged youth that placed over 367,000 young people in summer jobs. In addition, over 260,000 low-income individuals were placed in subsidized jobs through investments in the Recovery Act. These programs have been critical for a population whose unemployment rate has stayed above 15 percent since President Obama has also invested in strengthening America s community college system which enrolls more than 6 million students. Created Economically-Sustainable Neighborhoods To transform high-poverty neighborhoods with distressed public housing into sustainable communities with mixed-income housing, safe streets, and economic opportunities, the Obama Administration developed the Choice Neighborhood initiative and has already provided $126 million to communities in need across the country. The Obama Administration has also secured $40 million over the past two years to develop Promise 7 P a g e

9 Neighborhoods initiative, which is modeled on the Harlem Children s Zone and provides communities with the continuum of services from cradle to career to meet educational challenges. Through $8 billion worth of investments in high-speed broadband through the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration has significantly increased access to the Internet across the country: more than 18,000 miles of broadband network have been installed or updated; more than 33,000 community anchor institutions have been connected to broadband; more than 16,000 computers for public use have been installed; and more than 110,000 new broadband subscribers have been generated. The Obama Administration is also working with tribal leaders to bring high speed, affordable broadband to their communities. The Obama Administration is also piloting innovative efforts to strengthen cities and regions, increase the capacity of local governments to execute their economic growth plans, and deliver federal assistance tailored to the local government s needs through the Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative. In rural America, the Administration s Strike Force initiative will promote and assist the economic development of rural communities and enhance the viability and profitability of small farms and ranches. Expanded Support for Small Businesses in Low-Income Areas The President has taken a series of steps designed to help small businesses many of whom have been among the hardest-hit from the downturn to invest and hire. Through measures like the Small Business Jobs Act, the President has signed into law 17 small business tax cuts, established the Small Business Lending Fund and the State Small Business Credit Initiative, and enhanced SBA lending programs. The Obama Administration has especially targeted small businesses in struggling communities. The Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Program draws on federal resources to invest in CDFIs and to build their capacity to serve low-income people and communities, including Indian Country, that lack access to affordable financial products and services. The Recovery Act provided an additional $100 million to enhance the lending capacity of CDFIs, while the President secured funding in both 2010 and 2011 for the CDFI program that was more than double its levels in Likewise, the Recovery Act contained an additional $3 billion in allocation authority for the New Markets Tax Credit which supports investments in underserved communities. In addition to this historic increase in support for the New Market Tax Credit program, the Obama Administration has called for reauthorizing and expanding the credit from $3.5 billion to $5 billion in its FY2012 budget and proposed reforms to the program that will make it easier for it to support access to capital for small businesses. 8 P a g e

10 Strengthened the Health and Wellness of Families The President has taken historic steps to ensure greater access to health care for the neediest Americans. Healthy workers benefit the economy because they have reduced levels of absenteeism and improved productivity. Within a month of taking office, the President signed the Children s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act into law, expanding health coverage to more than 4 million low-income children who would otherwise go uninsured. And thanks to the landmark Affordable Care Act, 34 million Americans will have quality, affordable health coverage when the law is fully implemented. Because nine out of ten Americans without health insurance today are in low- or moderate- income families, they will greatly benefit from the Affordable Care Act s coverage expansion some will be eligible for Medicaid while others will get tax credits to purchase private coverage. In fact, the Affordable Care Act is already working to expand health coverage: compared to a year ago, nearly one million young adults have gained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act under a provision that requires health plans to let young adults without employer coverage stay on their parents policy until they turn 26. To help parents and families succeed through investments in programs that are proven to work, the President has invested in evidence-based home visiting services for lowincome parents and young children and evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. And to promote responsible parenting, encourage healthy relationships and marriage, and help families move toward self-sufficiency and economic stability, the President created his nationwide Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative and invested in responsible fatherhood programs. The Obama Administration supports effective, long-standing programs that have served Americans who are trying to climb out of poverty and those in the middle class struggling to remain there. The President is committed to building on these programs through new, 9 P a g e

11 historic investments and fresh, innovative initiatives championed by his Administration. By working together to identify innovative ways to solve shared problems, we can ensure that our Nation lives up to its proud history of opportunity for all, so that regardless of the family or neighborhood we grow up in, our hard work allows us to realize the prosperity of the American Dream. 10 P a g e

12 11 P a g e OPPORTUNITIES REALIZED: PRESIDENT OBAMA S PATHWAYS TO OPPORTUNITY Tax Relief for All Working Americans, with refundable tax credits focused on working families. The President secured the Making Work Pay tax credit in 2009 and 2010 and then a payroll tax cut in 2011 that amounted to a 2 percent raise for working Americans through In addition, the President secured historic expansions in refundable tax credits EITC and CTC for low-income families. Expanded and Extended Unemployment Insurance and Nutrition Assistance. The expansion of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed through the Recovery Act helped over 17 million unemployed workers by the end of 2010 and the December tax deal s extension of UI kept 7 million Americans from losing their benefits during The Recovery Act also modernized the Unemployment Insurance program with incentives to states to extend coverage to workers who had previously been excluded. The Administration also expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a critical program which helped keep an additional 3.9 million people, including 1.7 million children, above the poverty line in Kept Americans in their Homes During a Housing and Economic Crisis. The Administration s programs, both through their direct and indirect impact on the market, have helped more than 4 million families permanently modify their mortgages so they can stay in their homes. Through the Hardest Hit Fund, an additional $7.6 billion supports locally-developed solutions to help unemployed and distressed homeowners in states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Through the Recovery Act, the President provided $1.5 billion for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program to prevent homelessness for 1 million Americans. Reformed K-12 and Early Education through Innovative, New Programs. President Obama created Race to the Top with a historic $4.35 billion investment. As a result of the initiative, over 40 states have raised standards, improved assessments, and invested in teachers to ensure that all of our children receive a highquality education. A similar Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge has been developed to raise the quality of and increase access to critical programs that ensure our kids are entering school ready to learn. Increased College Access and Affordability for Students. Since the beginning of the Administration, the President has dramatically increased Pell Grant funding, created the American Opportunity Tax Credit to ease college costs for over 9 million families, and championed bold and comprehensive reform of student loans that will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade. Together, these represent the largest investment in higher education since the G.I. Bill. Subsidized Jobs for Low-Income Adults and Youth. Through the Recovery Act, 367,000 low-income youth received summer employment and over 260,000 adults and youth were placed in subsidized jobs. Created Economically-Sustainable Neighborhoods. The Administration has secured $40 million to Promise Neighborhoods and $126 million to Choice Neighborhoods that provide a continuum of services to combat the challenges facing communities most in need. The new Strong Cities, Strong Communities is helping strengthen cities and regions by increasing the capacity of local governments to execute their economic growth plans, while also delivering federal assistance tailored to the local government s needs. Support for Small Businesses. Since the beginning of the Administration, the President has enacted 17 tax cuts for small businesses, including billions of dollars in tax credits, write-offs, and deductions for Americans who start new businesses, hire the unemployed, and provide health insurance for their employees. In addition, through the Small Business Jobs Act and other measures, he has taken steps to expand small businesses access to credit with a particular focus on underserved communities through programs like the Community Development Financial Institutions and the New Markets Tax Credit. Expanded Health Care Access for Families and Workers. Within a month of taking office, the President signed the Children s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act into law, expanding health coverage to more than 4 million children who would otherwise go uninsured. And the historic Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented, will expand health coverage to 34 million Americans, the majority of whom are low- or moderate-income.

13 PROVIDING FINANCIAL STABILITY TO STRUGGLING FAMILIES But no matter what we argue, no matter where we stand, we ve always held certain beliefs as Americans. We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms and pursue our own happiness, we can t just think about ourselves. We have to think about the country that made these liberties possible. We have to think about our fellow citizens with whom we share a community. And we have to think about what s required to preserve the American Dream for future generations. President Barack Obama, April 13, 2011 When President Obama took office, the economy was shedding 750,000 jobs each month and millions of families were unable to make ends meet. President Obama took immediate action, with tax relief, unemployment insurance, and assistance for basic needs like keeping food on the table and a roof over struggling families heads. Three years later, data show that millions of people were lifted out of poverty by each of these efforts which not only helped blunt the worst impacts of the recession, but also stabilized the economy and stemmed historic job losses. Support for Struggling Families When the President took office, he signed into law tax relief targeted to lower-income and middle-class working families, helping them bear the brunt of the recession. The President proposed and enacted a new tax credit, Making Work Pay, which provided enough income to keep 1.6 million Americans out of poverty, and he also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, also saving 1.6 million Americans from poverty. And these provisions provided relief to over a hundred million more. As a way to get the economy going again and help out families in tough times, the President fought for and enacted a 2 percentage point employee-side payroll tax cut for 2011, and, in the American Jobs Act, the President is proposing to extend that through 2012 and expand the tax cut to 3.1 percentage points. This payroll tax cut is adding to the paychecks of about 160 million American workers this year. 12 P a g e

14 As part of the Recovery Act, the President signed into law the Making Work Pay tax cut of up to $800 for a family (and $400 for a single individual) in 2009 and Making Work Pay went to about 95 percent of working families. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is a new, partially refundable tax credit that is now helping more than 9 million families afford the cost of college. It was created in the Recovery Act and continued through 2012 in the December tax deal. The Recovery Act set a lower refundability threshold for the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and this was also continued through 2012 in last December s tax deal. This lower refundability threshold provides a tax cut to 11.8 million working families with 21.3 million children. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is widely recognized as one of the largest and most effective anti-poverty programs in the country; it both encourages work and alleviates poverty. The Recovery Act expanded the EITC for families with three or more children giving them a tax cut of up to $640 this year and also reduced the marriage penalty faced by working married families. These were continued through 2012 in the December tax deal, and, together, these enhancements to the EITC are helping 5.8 million working parents with 12.5 million children. For the 45 million low-income Americans that participate each month, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is an important economic lifeline. The face of SNAP has evolved over time and, during the recent recession, many families who had never before accessed social benefits found themselves suddenly in need. How tax relief has helped American families: A family earning $20,000 per year (close to the poverty line in 2011): A family with two children close to the poverty line will have received around $3,600 in tax relief including around $1,600 each from Making Work Pay and the extended EITC through the President s first term. If the American Jobs Act is passed, this family would get an additional $620 payroll tax cut next year. A family with a single parent earning the minimum wage (around $14,000 per year) got $3,000 in tax relief from the expanded Child Tax Credit: A family with one eligible child, and a parent earning the minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) will have received around $4,200 in tax relief over the President s first term. Most of this relief is due to the expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which provided a targeted benefit to lower-income, working families. Before the crisis in 2008, families received no child tax credit until they earned around $12,000, with the credit phasing in after that. Single parents at the minimum wage would therefore not earn enough to qualify for a substantial credit. In 2009, the Recovery Act lowered the phase-in to $3,000, meaning that a minimum wage earner with one qualifying child would get the full $1,000 credit, rather than around $225 under prior law. This adds up to around $3,000 in tax relief over the President s first term. Lower income and middle-class families received $4,000 in tax relief for college costs: The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) provided a credit that is refundable up to $1,000 per year for families with college expenses. A typical family earning $20,000 or $30,000 with college expenses of more than $5,000 will have received $4,000 in tax relief over the President s first term. 13 P a g e

15 Despite rising poverty and unemployment in 2008 and 2009, child hunger did not rise. SNAP played a major role in making that possible. According to the Census Bureau, the SNAP program kept an additional 3.9 million people, including 1.7 million children, above the poverty line in Patrick and Tyra Magreevy of San Antonio, TX, never thought their family would need assistance from a program like SNAP. While Patrick, a Veteran, is currently employed at Sears, Tyra is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. All of a sudden they were struggling to pay the basic necessities including utilities, mortgage and most importantly groceries. SNAP benefits helped relieve the stress and pain of hearing their children ask for food when the pantry was empty. Current data shows the vast majority of SNAP beneficiaries are now working families, children and the elderly. Most households who enroll in SNAP stay on the program for less than a year, using the program like Patrick and Tyra: to get back on their feet during times of economic hardship. SNAP not only successfully helps meet the needs of working families in financial crisis, but it also provides an economic multiplier for their communities: every $5 spent in new SNAP benefits yields up to $9 in economic activity. Every time a family uses SNAP to put food on the table, it benefits the store and the employees where the purchase was made, the truck driver who delivered the food, the warehouses that stored it, the plant that processed it, and the farmer who produced the food. Addressing the Housing Crisis When President Obama took office in January of 2009, the housing market had seen major losses for 30 straight months, slashing home equity in half and leaving as many communities struggling economically. Since then, the Administration has taken critical steps to mitigate the impact of the crisis and revitalize communities most in need. To begin rebuilding our housing market and economy, the Administration jumpstarted mortgage modifications, which help to keep families in their homes. More than 4 million families have had their mortgages permanently modified since April 2009 nearly twice the number of foreclosures in that time. And the Administration has fundamentally changed the way that mortgage modifications are conducted. Before President Obama was inaugurated, most loan modifications conducted in the private market actually raised payments. Our efforts have set a standard for affordability in the market, which has resulted in the average modification lowering monthly payments by about $500. The Administration has made it easier for Americans to afford a new home, with an $8000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit that hundreds of thousands of Americans used to realize their dreams of owning a home. And the Administration has also made it easier to take advantage of historically low interest rates, as over 1.5 million Americans have refinanced their homes at lower rates through the Federal Housing Administration. And for those communities hit hardest by the collapse of the housing market, the Hardest Hit Fund provides $7 billion to help their underwater and unemployed homeowners with 14 P a g e

16 the relief needed to hold onto to their homes. This help will give these communities some of the tools needed to stabilize their neighborhoods and turn their local housing markets around. The Obama Administration acted quickly to deal with some of the worst impacts of the recession through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, a Recovery Act program that has prevented or ended homelessness for over 1 million Americans. Through this program, homelessness agencies work to connect families with resources they need such as rental assistance, security deposits, SNAP benefits, utility payments, credit counseling, legal aid, and other supportive services. The Obama Administration has placed extra emphasis on preventing homelessness among veterans who have served their country a focus desperately needed because veterans are 50 percent more likely to become homeless than all Americans. Through coordinated action by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Veterans Administration, more than 37,000 veterans have received housing vouchers since 2008, putting the United States on track to end veteran homelessness by Relief for Unemployed Job Seekers The expansion of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed through the Recovery Act helped over 17 million unemployed workers by the end of 2010 and the December Tax Deal s extension of UI kept 7 million Americans from losing their benefits during In fact, in 2009 the UI program as a whole kept approximately 4.8 million people out of poverty, with the extension of emergency benefits under the Recovery Act responsible for lifting 2.2 million of these Americans out of poverty. According to the Census, unemployment insurance payments kept 3.2 million people above the poverty line in These payments also have shown success in spurring economic growth putting an estimated two dollars back into the economy for every one dollar spent by the government, since those receiving unemployment payments are likely to spend them right away. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that the extensions increased GDP growth by 0.8 percent and contributed to generating 800,000 jobs. Over the last two years, unemployment insurance (UI) claims were processed for 31 million beneficiaries. The Obama Administration provided technical assistance to 26 states to amend their laws to ensure that millions of unemployed job seekers had access to extended benefits and also provided guidance and onsite monitoring in all states. The Recovery Act also modernized the Unemployment Insurance program with incentives to states to extend coverage to part-time workers, recent entrants to the labor force, and others who had previously been excluded. The Obama Administration provided over $4 billion to 41 states as part of this initiative. 15 P a g e

17 Protecting Consumers for the Future When applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products, Americans need at the very least to be able to protect themselves from the same abusive practices of the lending industry that precipitated the current financial crisis. The newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will provide protection for consumers by ensuring that they get the information they need to make the best financial decisions for themselves and their families that prices are clear up front, that risks are visible, and that nothing is buried in fine print. In a market that works, consumers should be able to make direct comparisons among products and no provider should be able to build, or feel pressure to build, a business model around unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. 16 P a g e

18 READY TO LEARN This isn't just about keeping an eye on our children, it's about educating them. Studies show that children in early childhood education programs are more likely to score higher in reading and math, more likely to graduate from high school and attend college, more likely to hold a job, and more likely to earn more in that job. For every dollar we invest in these programs, we get nearly $10 back in reduced welfare rolls, fewer health care costs, and less crime. President Barack Obama, March 10, 2011 President Obama has worked to expand the number of children who have access to high quality early childhood education. Access to affordable, safe, quality child care is essential for parents who work without it, many families are left with the untenable choice of leaving their children in substandard care or losing their jobs. In 2009, an average of 2.5 million families received child care assistance from federallysupported child care programs and associated state funds. Almost 1 million children depend on the Head Start program for comprehensive early childhood services. Historic investments by the Obama Administration in Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care funding have increased access to early education for thousands of young children. The number of children served in Head Start increased by 13,000 three- and four- year-olds and 48,000 infants and toddlers. And, additional child care funding enabled states to serve approximately 300,000 additional children during the depths of the recession. 17 P a g e

19 The critical importance of the early years of development and the potential benefits of early childhood programs are described in the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine report, Neurons to Neighborhoods. Nurturing and stimulating relationships with parents and caregivers during the first five years of life provide a foundation for life-long healthy development and learning. By the time children start school, low-income children are, on average, a full year behind their peers in cognitive and language skills. Once behind, these problems are not easily overcome as children enter school. Low-income children are more likely to experience academic failure, repeat grades, and drop out before completing high school. Race to the Top: Early Learning Challenge Head Start graduate Mary Yong, now in her 20s, says the program gave her the start in life that she needed. From a family that did not speak English in the home, she began attending Head Start at 3 years old. Mary says, Words really can't explain how much Head Start means to me and my family. They have helped me in so many ways. I was taught another language I was taught what any preschooler needed to learn and I am so thankful. Like Mary, every child in America should have the opportunity to learn the skills they need to succeed. The Obama Administration has launched a new $500 million competition, the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge that will push states to transform early learning systems with better coordination, clearer learning standards, and meaningful workforce development for educators and care takers. The competition focuses on improving early learning and development for young children by supporting States' efforts to increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in each age group of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers participating in high-quality early learning and development programs. The overarching goal of the Early Learning Challenge competition is to make sure that many more children, especially children with high needs, enter kindergarten ready to succeed. The Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge does not create new early learning and development programs, nor is it a vehicle for maintenance of the status quo. Rather, the program will support States that demonstrate their commitment to integrating and aligning resources and policies across all of the State agencies that administer public funds related to early learning and development. This commitment by the Administration represents a significant effort to help close the 18 P a g e

20 achievement gap between high need children and their peers by assisting states in promoting access to higher quality early learning and development programs for the children that can benefit the most. Reforming Head Start The Obama Administration has launched an ambitious reform agenda aimed at improving the quality of programs using current research and the best available evidence-based strategies. This reform agenda includes raising the standards for quality to which Head Start centers are held accountable, fully engaging families in children s development and learning, raising teacher qualifications, providing better training on evidence-based strategies to Head Start staff, and, for the first time, requiring low-performing Centers to compete for Head Start funds. There is a special focus in this quality improvement initiative on the strategies and methods that have been shown through research to be associated with improvements in children s outcomes. Part of this initiative includes critical technical assistance and resources on best practices to Head Start centers. Improving Child Care Quality The Obama Administration has focused on improving quality in child care across the country for all children, and particularly for low-income children. More than 12 million American children regularly rely on child care, including child care centers and family child care homes, to support their healthy development and school success. The Administration identified principles for reforming the nation s primary funding source for child care assistance and quality improvement. These reforms would transform the Nation s child care system into one that provides safe, nurturing care that fosters healthy child development, promotes future academic success, focuses on quality improvement, and supports parental employment. 19 P a g e