Congress has allowed the larger food-stamp allotments contained in the 2009 economic stimulus package to expire, which means poor households across the US will struggle even more than usual to keep themselves fed. The cuts will not only harm poor families, but affect economic growth now and in the future.
At the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Boston this week, the organization officially approved 17 policy statements, including one calling for the US to improve access to paid sick and family leave and one urging OSHA to require workplace injury and illness prevention programs.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: Burdened black lung victims, poor people’s logic, and underground infrastructure
A few recent pieces worth a look
Nearly 150 witnesses signed up to testify at a DC Council hearing on expanding access to paid sick leave and raising the minimum wage.
Ian Frazier’s in-depth New Yorker article on homelessness in New York seems especially timely, coming after a government shutdown that demonstrated how quickly low-income workers can fall into homelessness if their paychecks suddenly stop.
EHS Today tackles Bangladesh factory safety; federal employees get paid for shutdown days, but thousands of contractors don’t; and health ministers from across the Americas pledge funds to address chronic kidney disease that’s killing agricultural workers.
A new report from the Brookings Institution recommends changes to administration of housing vouchers to improve efficiency and address the growth of poverty in suburban areas.
As the Mine Safety & Health Administration furloughs employees, three mineworkers were killed on the job in three days; OSHA issues fines in West Fertilizer explosion case; and another Bangladesh factory fire kills nine workers.
The government shutdown is affecting another vital public health program. It’s cut off the flow of funds from USDA to WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Marketplaces for individual insurance policies open today. For thousands of people who are uninsured and don’t know much about the details of Obamacare, they now have a chance to see in concrete terms what it can mean for them.