In October 2011, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, along with the Leadership Conference and the Coalition on Human Needs, released the study “Restoring shared prosperity: Strategies to cut poverty and expand economic growth” which discussed cutting the nation’s poverty in half within the next 10 years.
According to this study, by 2010, about 15 percent of the U.S. population, or more than 46 million people, lived below the poverty line; that corresponds to one in every six individuals. The current poverty line is $22,314 a year for a family of four. A measure of low-income is also frequently used to indicate struggling families. The current low-income level is $44,700 a year for a family of four. In 2010, 103 million Americans, or one in three people, were considered low-income.
The study also demonstrates that this economic struggle can be even more difficult for the LGBT community. In 2002, among those aged 18-44, 24 percent of lesbian and bisexual women were living below the poverty line compared to 19 percent of heterosexual women, 15 percent of gay men and 13 percent of heterosexual men. Among women aged 65 or older, lesbian couples were more than twice as likely as their married heterosexual peers to be living in poverty. Although little data is available on the poverty rates of transgender individuals, the available information shows that they tend to have high unemployment rates, low incomes, high poverty rates and high rates of homelessness.
The LGBT community also faces other unique economic challenges. As the Williams Institute notes, “same-sex couples are deprived of important economic support for their families because they cannot marry.” Same-sex couples lose many direct and indirect benefits of marriage. They cannot have prenuptial agreements or use their joint income to efficiently split housework and paid work. They cannot file for a combined health care insurance plan or retirement plan through a single employer. A gay or lesbian individual cannot enjoy the social security benefits that a partner has earned. An immigrant cannot obtain citizenship status from a same-sex partner. A same-sex couple also cannot obtain the tax benefits of a married couple filing jointly.
The issue of childcare is another major obstacle in the way of many same-sex couples. In an interview with Windy City Times, Melissa Boteach, the Half in Ten manager at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, noted, “Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program only consider legal parents” and “most employers aren’t required to offer [benefits] to same-sex parents.” (The Half in Ten campaign is the one aiming to reduce poverty by 50 percent in the next 10 years.) This can make it difficult for some same-sex parents to obtain health care for their children. Some same-sex parents may also have difficulty receiving the child care tax credit because it can only be claimed by the legal parent.
The Williams Institute also mentions that “during the past four decades, a large body of research using a variety of methodologies has consistently demonstrated high levels of discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) people at work” and that “discrimination against LGBT people has a negative impact in terms of health, wages, job opportunities, productivity in the workplace, and job satisfaction.” Such challenges make it difficult for LGBT individuals to succeed financially.
Yet, there are some solutions to this problem. Boteach told Windy City Times, “repealing the Defense of Marriage Act would go a long way in reducing discriminatory practices due to the [federal tax code] safety net.”
The Half in Ten project also includes a plan to cut the level of poverty by half in a decade. The plan is split into three parts: create more good jobs, strengthen families and communities, and promote economic security. In order to create more good jobs, the plan recommends a comprehensive jobs plan, an update to the minimum wage, funds for subsidized jobs, disadvantaged youth programs for education and job training, job training systems for adults, and expanded paid sick leave.
To strengthen families and communities, the plan suggests protected funding for family support programs like Home Energy Assistance and the Women, Infants and Children program, a reform of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and an investment in struggling communities.
In order to promote economic security, the plan recommends continued improvements to the earned income tax credit and child tax credit, maintenance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, extension of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation and the Extended Benefits programs, an expansion of childcare funding, and promotion of policies to help low income families build assets. The leaders of the Half in Ten project hope that this plan will help the entire community.