Monday, December 15

FINANCIAL HEALTH

Everything You Need To Know To Claim The Child Tax Credit This Tax Filing Season
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FINANCIAL HEALTH

Everything You Need To Know To Claim The Child Tax Credit This Tax Filing Season

The monthly child tax credit payments may be over, but families now face a new hurdle: Filing for the remaining portion they’re owed. An estimated 40 million households will be applying for the benefit this tax filing season, which, thanks to a bevy of coronavirus-related claims, is already expected to come with significant challenges and delays. The child tax credit, which was expanded to more people and for a larger amount in early 2021, was designed to arrive in two chunks in 2021 to nearly all families with children. The first payments were in six monthly increments. The second would come with families’ tax returns in 2022 — if they know how to get it. “There’s a huge, huge knowledge gap here,” said Jen Burdick, a lawyer at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia who has been helpi...
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With The Right Kind Of Help Low-Income Families Can Also Benefit From Cheaper Solar Power
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FINANCIAL HEALTH

With The Right Kind Of Help Low-Income Families Can Also Benefit From Cheaper Solar Power

Until recently, rooftop solar panels were a clean energy technology that only wealthy Americans could afford. But prices have dropped, thanks mostly to falling costs for hardware, as well as price declines for installation and other “soft” costs. Solar power is becoming more common for households at all income levels. These homes in Richmond, California, went solar with the help of GRID Alternatives. GRID Alternatives, CC BY-ND Today hundreds of thousands of middle-class households across the U.S. are turning to solar power. But households with incomes below the median for their areas remain less likely to go solar. These low- and moderate-income households face several roadblocks to solar adoption, including cash constraints, low rates of home ownership and language barriers. Our team o...
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Almost Two-Thirds Of Older Black Americans And Even More Latinos Can’t Afford To Live Alone Without Help
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FINANCIAL HEALTH

Almost Two-Thirds Of Older Black Americans And Even More Latinos Can’t Afford To Live Alone Without Help

Older Americans who want to live independently face serious economic challenges. Half who live alone don’t have enough income to afford even a bare-bones budget in their home communities, and nearly 1 in 4 couples face the same problem. Those numbers add up to at least 11 million older adults who are struggling to make ends meet, a new analysis shows. The numbers are worse for older people of color. Dramatically higher percentages of Black, Latino and Asian older adults live on incomes that don’t meet their cost of living, even with Social Security. That can mean skipping needed health care, not having enough food, living in unhealthy conditions or having to move in with family. These disparities often reflect lifelong disadvantages that add up as people of color encounter structural ra...
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What Low-Wage Work Does to Us
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FINANCIAL HEALTH

What Low-Wage Work Does to Us

A huge share of U.S. employment is in low-wage jobs where workers are pushed to their limits to maximize profits for massive corporations. “Cyborg jobs” is the term Emily Guendelsberger uses in her new book, On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane to describe the low-wage, high-stress jobs that make up a large portion—something like 47%—of employment in the United States. You could say they’re jobs determined by algorithms. Cyborg jobs are designed through data analysis to boost profits by getting the maximum out of workers. Staff scheduling is tight to avoid slow periods, so workers spend much of the day rushing to where they’re needed. Bathroom breaks are limited and timed. Workers’ movements and performance are monitored throughout t...
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