A day after President Barack Obama signed a $938 billion health care legislation into law, the National Urban League is calling for lawmakers to consider spending significantly less than that – approximately $168 billion – to close the unemployment gap by creating jobs.
The proposal is among several measures the Urban League calls for in its annual State of Black America report. Citing continuing high unemployment rates for blacks at 14.8 in 2009, compared to whites at 8.5 percent, the Urban League says its “Plan for Creating Jobs,” is a solution to the jobs crisis in urban communities. The report offers “a six-point plan” for an investment of $168 billion over two years for direct job creation, job training for the chronically employed, greater access to credit for small businesses and counseling for people mired in the foreclosure process.
Other suggestions include tax incentives for clean-energy equipment manufacturers who employ individuals in targeted communities, expansion of the Small Business Administration’s Community Express Loan Program, creation of green empowerment zones and an expanded summer job program for youth and the creation of 100 urban academies.
“These are tough times in America and they require a powerful and immediate response,” said Marc H. Morial, the NUL’s president and CEO. “The government has bailed out Wall Street. It’s time to act swiftly and do something for Main Street, which includes a strong, focused jobs plan.
In addition to measuring disparities between blacks and white, this year’s report includes a Hispanic equality index— loosely interpreted as the relative status of blacks and whites in terms of economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement.
“While they still lag behind, with an overall equality index of 75.5 percent, Hispanics are faring better than blacks, whose overall equality index was 71.8 percent,” according to the report.
Other report findings:
Black unemployment was14.8 percent in 2009, compared to 8.5 percent for whites. Hispanic unemployment was 12.1 percent.
Small gains made in median household income decreased to 62 percent from 65 percent a year ago. Less than half of black and Hispanic families owned homes and both were more than three times as likely as whites to live below the poverty line.
The report also shows a big difference in 2009 real median household income between whites and minorities. Real median income for whites was $34,218 for blacks, $37, 913 for Hispanics and $55,530 for whites.
In education, whites over the age of 25 were more than one and a half times as likely as blacks and two and a half times as likely as Hispanics to hold a bachelor’s degree.
“The recession eliminated any chances of making real progress over the last decade,” said Valerie Rawlston Wilson, vice president of research at the Urban League’s Policy Institute. “With a decade that has been defined by a record of zero net job growth, falling incomes and declining net worth, the State of Black America report accurately puts the focus on jobs as a solution to this crisis.”
The Urban League’s latest report comes amid its Centennial initiative, “I AM EMPOWERED”, which includes a goal that every American have access to a quality job with a living wage and benefits by 2025. Several leading experts, including U.S. Secretary of Education Ame Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis contribute essays to the report.
Solis writes about the long struggle African-Americans have faced in the labor market, even during more prosperous times. She further acknowledges that African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to be unemployed than whites since President Obama took office. Yet, she maintains that African-Americans are doing relatively better in this recession compared to previous recessions, partly due to the Recovery Act which expanded unemployment benefits and gave large tax cuts to working Americans.
“By strengthening the safety net, putting money directly in the pockets of Americans, and supporting state and local governments to maintain the services that working families rely on, the Recovery Act helped sustain neighborhoods ravaged by job losses,” she says.
