Category Archives: Viva!

What the New Census Bureau Data Say About Women

The Census Bureau just released new data on poverty in the U.S. in 2014 and here’s the scoop: being a woman puts you at a greater risk of poverty. The odds of being poor are about one-third higher for women than for men, and if you’re a woman of color, a single mother, a woman with a disability, or an older woman living alone, the odds of being poor are even greater. Continued job growth in 2014 failed to significantly lower the overall poverty rate or increase median household income. And the wage gap between women and men remained wide, with women typically making just 79 cents to a man’s dollar.

But today’s data isn’t all bad. Today’s release shows that because of the Affordable Care Act, 90 percent of women and girls have health insurance. The remarkable decline in the proportion of women who lack health insurance extends to women of all races. With affordable health insurance, women have a far better chance of protecting themselves and their families, and today’s numbers show the ACA to be a resounding success.

povertydayphotogrid.jpgWe’ll be crunching numbers throughout the day, but here’s a first look at poverty, the wage gap, and health insurance coverage among women and their families in 2014:

Poverty among Women and Families

  • More than one in seven women, more than 18 million, lived in poverty. The poverty rate among women was 14.7 percent in 2014.
  • The poverty rate for adult men in 2014, 10.9 percent, was lower than for women.
  • Poverty rates were particularly high for women who head families (39.8 percent), African American women (25.0 percent), Hispanic women (22.8 percent), and women 65 and older living alone (19.7 percent), and women ages 18-64 with a disability (31.9 percent).
  • The poverty rate for women 65 and older was 12.1 percent in 2014, compared to 7.4 percent for their male counterparts. More than two-thirds (68.1 percent) of elderly poor are women.
  • More than half (56.7 percent) of poor children lived in female-headed families in 2014.

Wage Gap

  • Women working full time, year round were paid only 79 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, statistically unchanged since 2007.
  • African American women working full time, year round were typically paid only 60 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts, statistically unchanged from 2013.
  • Hispanic women working full time, year round were typically paid only 55 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts, statistically unchanged from 2013. 
  • Asian American women working full time, year round were typically paid only 84 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts, statistically unchanged from 2013.
  • White, non-Hispanic women working full time, year round were typically paid 75 cents for every dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts, statistically unchanged from 2013.

Health Insurance and Medicaid Coverage

  • As of 2014, more than 90 percent of women and girls have health insurance.
  • Uninsurance among working-age women fell by 4 percentage points between 2013 and 2014, from 17 percent to 13 percent for women ages 18 to 64.
  • Women continue to rely more heavily on Medicaid coverage than men. Sixteen percent of adult women ages 18 to 64 are enrolled in Medicaid, compared to 13 percent of adult men. Overall, Medicaid coverage for women in this age group grew by nearly 3 percentage points.
  • Direct purchase health insurance — which includes the health insurance Marketplaces — now covers 13.6 million adult women, a 43 percent increase from 2013; 13.6 million women purchased coverage for themselves in 2014.
  • Adult women of all races gained health insurance in 2014, with Hispanic women experiencing the greatest gains in proportion to their numbers. However, Hispanic women still have the highest rates of uninsurance among women ages 18-64, with 24 percent going without coverage, compared to 13 percent of white women and almost 15 percent of African American women.

Stay tuned to NWLC’s blog and follow @nwlc on Twitter (#talkpoverty) and Facebook to learn more about what the Census data tells us about how women and their families are faring— and to find out what you can do to help make sure next year’s data show improvements on all fronts.

Surprise! Poverty Increased for College Graduates and Married-Couple Families in 2014

We’re still analyzing the latest Census data, but one of the findings reported by the Census Bureau was particularly striking:  people with at least a bachelor’s degree and married-couple families were among the few groups for whom poverty increased in a statistically significant way.

dollarphotoclub_74248359_0.jpgPoverty for married-couple families increased from 5.7 percent in 2013 to 6.2 percent in 2014. The poverty rate for people 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 4.4 percent in 2013 to 5.0 percent in 2014.

To be sure, the poverty rates for these groups were still substantially lower than the rates for female-headed families and individuals without a college degree. But with all the blaming and shaming of single mothers, these data are a reminder that getting married and graduating from college don’t guarantee that you won’t be poor.

The Wage Gap: Stagnant All These Years

In 2014, women working full time, year round were typically paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to a man, resulting in $10,762 in lost earnings. According to NWLC analysis of new Census Bureau data, not only is this figure about the same as last year’s figure of 78 cents, but the wage gap hasn’t budged in nearly a decade.

The wage gap for many women of color is even larger—with African American women making 60 cents and Hispanic women making 55 cents to their white, male, non-Hispanic counterparts’ dollar.

The stagnant wage gap highlights the need to enact policies that combat barriers that women face in the workplace, including:

There have been some positive developments in 2015, but unless more progress is made to help working families, we’ll be back here again next year—with the same, stagnant wage gap.

100 women are marching 100 miles for migrant dignity

100 women in matching t-shirts walk along the side of the road, holding signs that say "We Belong Together."

100 women continue their march for migrant dignity. (via We Belong Together Facebook page)

Starting yesterday, 100 women began a 100-mile pilgrimage from York County Detention Center to Washington D.C., just in time for the Pope’s arrival. Each woman carries her own story of dealing with our country’s inhumane immigration system: facing deportation herself, living with family members in detention, or being continually excluded from the Obama administration’s deportation relief efforts

Take Rosi Carrasco, a leader in the movement for migrant rights, who has lived in the country for 20 years yet is still not eligible for deferred action. She has risked deportation multiple times participating in civil disobedience actions to fight for humane immigration policy, and this week, she’ll be doing it again.

Or Ana Cañenguez, who is wearing the same shoes that she wore while walking five days through the desert with her children to cross into the country. She is currently in deportation proceedings, but she is marching. Monique Nguyen’s family, refugees from Vietnam, have all left the US because of rising anti-immigrant sentiment, but she is marching today. Rosario Reyes is marching in the hopes that she will one day be reunited with her son, who she left in El Salvador 12 years ago.

One of the marchers, Juana Flores, remembers the last time the Pope visited her home. She was a nun at the time, living in Oaxaca, Mexico, and she helped to prepare his meals. Now she is co-director of the San Francisco organization Mujeres Unidas y Activas, which provides services to women dealing with intimate partner violence and workplace mistreatment. Juana wrote about her experience as an immigrant in California, and why she is marching today with 99 other women.

“When I came to the United States, I was one of the people [the Pope] describes as “leaving their homelands, with a suitcase full of fears and desires, to undertake a hopeful and dangerous trip in search of more humane living conditions.” I had left the religious life, and brought my two young children with me. Upon arrival, I did not receive the welcome Pope Francis describes as the duty of each country.

With raids happening regularly in my neighborhood in San Francisco, I was scared to leave the house. Street names and new customs were unfamiliar. I saw neighbors taken away and families who had come to escape violence sent back into those precarious situations.

Facing that adversity in Mexico had affirmed my decision to transition to lay life and come to the United States. During the decade I spent in the convent, I was taught dedication, discipline and integrity. But I realized that I had a different calling, to live out God’s mission alongside people and immersed in the daily workings of the world, not removed from it.”

These aren’t just any women who are marching this week. No, the Pope has an army coming at him: 100 courageous and fierce advocates shaking the earth with their march as they call for dignity and justice for migrants everywhere.

Read more about the march and see where participants are stopping along the way.

Header image credit: We Belong Together Facebook page

Chile M8.3 Quake : Pacific Tsunami Watch Issued (Updated)

image

USGS Screen shot 19:15 hrs 9/16/15

 

UPDATED WITH Tsunami Alert (at bottom)

 

,530

 

The USGS is reporting a very large, and relatively shallow earthquake off the coast of Chile. Originally reported as a M7.9, the USGS has just upgraded it to M8.3.   There may be further adjustments (up or down) to the intensity of this quake as more readings are analyzed.

 

While we wait for clarification and word of any damage in Chile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a Tsunami Watch for the Hawaiian Islands.

 

BULLETIN

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER   1

NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
108 PM HST WED SEP 16 2015

TO – EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WATCH

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT
0108 PM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME – 1255 PM HST 16 SEP 2015
   COORDINATES – 20.0 SOUTH   71.3 WEST
   LOCATION    – OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN CHILE
   MAGNITUDE   – 7.9  MOMENT

NOTE THAT THIS MESSAGE REFLECTS A CORRECTION TO THE ORIGIN TIME OF THE EARTHQUAK

EVALUATION

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY
THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN
FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE
IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF
THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

                     0228 AM HST THU 17 SEP 2015

FURTHER MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS
WARRANT UNTIL THE THREAT TO HAWAII HAS PASSED.

 

UPDATED:   Latest Tsunami Message, with forecasted wave heights across the Pacific.  

The largest tsunami waves (> 3 meters) can be expected along the Chilean coast.   Smaller amplitude waves are possible elsewhere across the Pacific basin over the next 12 to 18 hours.   Follow the link for expected arrival times.

 

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
2346 UTC WED SEP 16 2015

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
———————————

  * MAGNITUDE      8.3
  * ORIGIN TIME    2254 UTC SEP 16 2015
  * COORDINATES    31.5 SOUTH  72.0 WEST
  * DEPTH          10 KM / 6 MILES
  * LOCATION       NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE

EVALUATION
———-

  * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 8.3 OCCURRED NEAR THE COAST OF     CENTRAL CHILE AT 2254 UTC ON WEDNESDAY   SEPTEMBER 16 2015.

  * BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA… HAZARDOUS TSUNAMI WAVES ARE  FORECAST FOR SOME  COASTS.

TSUNAMI THREAT FORECAST…UPDATED
———————————

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING MORE THAN 3 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE     LEVEL ARE POSSIBLE ALONG SOME COASTS OF    CHILE.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING 1 TO 3 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE LEVEL ARE    POSSIBLE ALONG SOME COASTS OF    FRENCH POLYNESIA.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES REACHING 0.3 TO 1 METERS ABOVE THE TIDE LEVEL    ARE POSSIBLE FOR SOME COASTS OF

      MEXICO… ECUADOR… PERU… ANTARCTICA… JAPAN… NEW  CALEDONIA… NEW ZEALAND… MARSHALL ISLANDS… FIJI… SAMOA…  AMERICAN SAMOA… COOK ISLANDS… TOKELAU… VANUATU…   KIRIBATI… JOHNSTON ISLAND… PALMYRA ISLAND… HOWLAND AND       BAKER… TONGA… WALLIS AND FUTUNA… PITCAIRN ISLANDS…   NIUE… SOLOMON ISLANDS… RUSSIA… HAWAII… AND NW HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS.

  * TSUNAMI WAVES ARE FORECAST TO BE LESS THAN 0.3 METERS ABOVE   THE TIDE LEVEL FOR THE COASTS OF    EL SALVADOR… GUATEMALA… HONDURAS… COSTA RICA…  NICARAGUA…  PANAMA… COLOMBIA… AUSTRALIA… PHILIPPINES…  TAIWAN… CHINA… NORTHERN MARIANAS… GUAM… PALAU… YAP…    POHNPEI… CHUUK… KOSRAE… NAURU… WAKE ISLAND… MIDWAY       ISLAND… JARVIS ISLAND… TUVALU… PAPUA NEW GUINEA…    INDONESIA… VIETNAM… MALAYSIA… AND BRUNEI.

  * ACTUAL AMPLITUDES AT THE COAST MAY VARY FROM FORECAST  AMPLITUDES DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES IN THE FORECAST AND LOCAL  FEATURES. IN PARTICULAR MAXIMUM TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES ON ATOLLS   WILL LIKELY BE MUCH SMALLER THAN THE FORECAST INDICATES.

  * FOR OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS PRODUCT A FORECAST HAS NOT   YET BEEN COMPUTED. THE FORECAST WILL BE EXPANDED AS NECESSARY IN SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTS.

Turkey’s ‘Kurdish Question’ on Fire Again

Arial shot of Cizre, Turkey.  Wiki image.

Aerial shot of Cizre, Turkey. Wiki image.

In the last two weeks Turkish authorities have imposed, lifted, reimposed and lifted once more a curfew on the Kurdish-populated town of Cizre on the Syrian border, close to where the brutal ISIS group has conquered swathes of Middle Eastern territory.

The curfews were introduced to combat the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), that Ankara once declared a tenuous truce with, but which has re-emerged as an enemy in recent months.

During the imposed curfew on Cizre town, at least 21 civilians were killed according to the Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP).

A curfew has been in place in the province of #Cizre last week where 21 civilians have been killed #CizreUnderAttack http://pic.twitter.com/5WewE2LvQ5

— HDP English (@HDPenglish) September 10, 2015

The government says all the dead were militants fighting for the PKK.

In a General Election in June, HDP passed the parliamentary threshold, taking over 13% of the vote and stripping the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of its precious parliamentary majority.

The parties remaining in the parliament could not secure a coalition agreement and, as a result, snap elections were scheduled for November 1.

Shortly after the June elections, a suicide-bomb attack on July 20 killed 32 people in the town of Suruc, most of them young Kurdish activists coordinating efforts to deliver aid to the people of the Kurdish-populated Syrian town of Kobane, who have been battered by fighting between local militias and ISIS.

This caused outrage and strengthened accusations that AKP was at best a passive force in the struggle against ISIS, who are believed to have been behind the Suruc attack.

Collage of Suruc victims, tweeted by @SarkawtShams on July 22nd.

Collage of Suruc victims, tweeted by @SarkawtShams on July 22nd.

Following the bombing, the PKK reacted by killing two Turkish soldiers.

In response, the Turkish government bombed both ISIS and PKK strongholds in Iraq. The attacks on the PKK were the first since late 2012, when a peace-process was in place.

Inside Turkey, political tensions have continued to escalate, with reports of widespread attacks on the offices of HDP.

The party’s headquarters in Ankara were set ablaze, as were several other offices throughout the country.

VIDEO – Turkey: Nationalist protesters destroy pro-Kurdish HDP headquarters in Ankara http://bitly.com/1Jb547C http://pic.twitter.com/xcooHcTDdn

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) September 9, 2015

Despite this, a delegation from HDP headed towards Cizre, attempting to bring an end to the curfew.

Here are some photos from the march: http://pic.twitter.com/CXMEL4MYcw

— HDP English (@HDPenglish) September 9, 2015

During this period of instability and conflict, several journalists have been deported, including the Dutch freelance journalist Frederike Geerdink, for reporting on Kurdish issues.

Written by Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar · comments (0)
Donate
· Share this: twitter facebook reddit googleplus

Gray Wolf (Ma’iingan) Confirmed On Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Reservation

Photo courtesy of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

Photo courtesy of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

Published September 15, 2015

HARBOR SPRINGS, MICHIGAN The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB), based in Harbor Springs, Michigan, announced on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 that the Tribe’s Natural Resource Department received confirmation of a gray wolf on its reservation land in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

The confirmation came months after the LTBB Natural Resource Department discovered wolf size tracks and scat while in route to rebait a camera station in the winter of 2014. The tracks and stride were measured and were consistent with those of a wolf. The tracks were consistently 4 ¾” long by 3 ¾” wide and the stride ranged from 45” to 53” (The stride is the distance one foot travels from one step to the next).”

The motion activated bait station camera also recorded several large canid photos. The pictures were also representative of gray wolves. The collected scat sample was sent to Trent University in Ontario Canada for DNA analysis. The Department received positive confirmation on Se. The sample analysis determined it to be consistent with a male gray wolf.

This marks the first confirmed presence of Ma’iingan on the LTBB Reservation after many years of reported sightings.

Ma’iingan (Gray wolf) is also one of the most revered symbols within the Anishnaabe (Odawa, Ojibway, Potawatomi) clan system and has a special status; wolves were commissioned by the Creator to walk with the Anishnaabe, and then separate.

In the Anishnaabe creation story, ma’iingan walked beside original man as his brother, as they traveled to visit and name all the animals, plants, and places on Earth. Later, the Creator would guide them down separate paths, but advised that they would be feared, respected and misunderstood by others who would arrive later. Culturally, Ma’iingan is an important representation of family, cooperation, loyalty and intelligence.

The post Gray Wolf (Ma’iingan) Confirmed On Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Reservation appeared first on Native News Online.