Jobs
Lost your job? Know someone who has? Or are you, or your family being paid less money for the same work? Well, you're with millions of others as stories like these become all too familiar across the US.
It’s because we’re in the middle of the longest jobs crisis our country has seen in more than sixty years. And, the picture is even more grim for some of us. For young adults, African-American and Latino communities the picture looks even worse.
And it isn’t like there is no work to be done. Look around - our nation is worse for the wear. We have pushed back and pushed back making the investment to maintain our physical infrastructure. Now, we need at least $2 trillion just to preserve what we already have and invest in keeping our country on the cutting edge.
We’re also watching the destruction of our human infrastructure with teachers, social workers, fire fighters and police all losing their jobs due to budget cuts brought about by the banking crisis.
We’re told we can’t afford safe bridges and roads, or to educate our children and grandchildren. We're told we can't afford to care for those who are aging or disabled or need it most. We’re told the solution to our jobs crisis is somehow to fire more people. We don’t buy it.
There is a solution, one that puts us back to work and rebuilds America. By investing in our infrastructure we will create and save thousands of jobs while making a healthier and more sustainable nation. We can have a country with full employment, schools that work, safe bridges, roads and parks.
A Robin Hood Tax could raise billions every year to invest back in our nation, good jobs, and getting America back to work.
The Reality
It will take an investment. It will take facing the facts: we are at a crossroads. We’ve been fighting to preserve what we have. That’s not enough. We have to rethink what work we do in this country. We have to figure out how to boldly go into this next century with opportunity. Good jobs, hope, and opportunity.
Let's start with some numbers. 5.3 million Americans have been unemployed for over 6 months, average unemployment lasts 40 weeks - and that’s only the ones that are still looking for work and haven’t given up hope.
The long-term unemployment rate is the worst it’s been in 60 years. Economists agree that a real recovery means creating 250,000 to 300,000 jobs a month. That means creating twice as many jobs per month than we are right now. You probably did not need an economist to tell you that. You know people that don’t have enough work, or a student who just got out of school and has big debt and little or no hope of finding the kind of job that existed even ten years ago.
The crisis that started on Wall Street is being felt in offices and workplaces across the country. At the state and municipal level job losses have totalled 646,000 since 2008. Most striking, almost a third of those, 270,000 have been in our pre-k’s, schools, colleges and universities. With Robin’s help, we can be a place where college graduates look forward to opportunity.
What Robin Can do
It's a mess. There are simply not enough jobs to go round. And many that those do exist are not secure or paid a decent, living wage.
We know what we’d do. We’d get Robin Hood involved. Urgently. Serious investment is required to create jobs that allow people to support themselves and their families. Jobs that offer opportunities and satisfaction – that allow people to play their part in society.
The billions that could be raised by a Robin Hood Tax would be a good way to start raising the cash to pay for the jobs the US so desperately needs.
Facts
5.3 million Americans have been unemployed for over 6 months, average unemployment period is 40 weeks.
The national average unemployment rate is almost twice as high as before the financial crisis.
In communities of color, unemployment rates are staggering. African-American unemployment is at 14.0%, the Latino rate is 10.3%.
The bank driven recession has cost states and municipalities dearly, with state and local job losses totalling 646,000 since 2008 - 270,000 of those in education.
Economists agree that a real recovery means creating 250,000 to 300,000 jobs a month, more than double what our economy is producing now.
