Two Ways to Help Low-income Families Now: AfterSCHOOL Meals Act and Fair Wages

June 16, 2009

“We judge any economic system by what it does for and to people and by how it permits all to participate in it. The economy should serve people, not the other way around.” U.S. Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, #13.

AFTERSchool Meals Act, S. 990

The Catholic Bishops challenge us to pay special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Children are certainly among the most vulnerable in our nation.

Increasing numbers of children lack access to sufficient nutrition. A trial program that provides an evening meal to children engaged in afterschool programs is in effect in ten states ( Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Vermont and Maryland). This is a tremendous help to families with the greatest economic need since their children are able to learn while receiving another nutritious meal.

NETWORK supports making this program accessible to all states since there are hungry children everywhere. Representatives Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have sponsored a bill (S.990) to do just this. The AFTERSchool Meals Act is designed to bring the program to low-income areas in all fifty states.

The program works well because it builds on the School Lunch / Breakfast and Child and Adult Care Food Programs. Children in food-insecure families rely on school-based programs for the good nutrition needed to grow physically and develop mentally, socially and emotionally.

Another benefit is that this program encourages families to enroll children in educational and enrichment activities, which keeps them learning and safe during afterschool hours when juvenile crime peeks.

Fair Wages

There is an epidemic of wage theft, especially in the low-wage workforce. In addition to hourly underpayment to minimum wage workers, wage theft includes not paying for all hours worked, not paying time-and-a-half for overtime, not giving a final paycheck when someone is let go, and paying with a check that bounces. It happens across all industries, including especially retail, restaurant, construction, garment, meatpacking, and other low-wage businesses. Low-wage workers are most affected, but the greatest dollar amount in lost wages is actually in the middle-wage sector

An estimated three million workers are not paid minimum wage – which comes to up to $50 billion per year. These are only estimates due, in part, to the loss of investigator positions in the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) at the U.S. Department of Labor. The division is understaffed, and has been for decades. In 2007, the WHD conducted one-half the number of investigations as in 1941—with 60% fewer investigators. In that time, the workforce grew eightfold. From 1997 to 2007, there was a 22% drop in investigators, and their actions dropped by 37%.

NETWORK supports an increase in appropriations funding in FY 2010 for 250 additional investigators, 50 more than requested by the Department of Labor. Wage theft occurs because of a lack of investigation and proactive oversight. Unscrupulous employers know that there is insufficient oversight and that they are likely to get by with it. It is time to address that injustice.