CPAR Research Archives

CONFERENCES

Voting Rights Conference: Strengthening Diversity in Democracy
On March 9, 2006, the CBCF convened a voting rights conference on Capitol Hill where elected officials and citizens discussed the future of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).* underneath of that hyperlinked line, so it looks like the rest of the items on the page.

FACT SHEETS

Congressional Black Caucus: Constituents at a Glance
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) consists of 42 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one member of the U.S. Senate. Four new members joined the CBC in the 109th Congress. As the Caucus expands, so do the number and variety of constituents they serve.

Social Security and African American Children
Children currently benefit from Social Security either as the orphaned survivor of a worker who has passed away, the dependent of a caretaker who has a disability and is unable to work, or the dependent of a retired worker.

Child Care in the African American Community
For many mothers, work is essential for the economic health of the family. Today, 77.5 percent of African American mothers work. While parents work, it is critical that young children receive enriching, safe, and affordable child care services

A Call for Sensibility in the Reauthorizing of TANF
The vibrant economy of the late 1990's was critical to the passage of the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Today the United States faces an uncertain economy evidenced by the 1.9 million jobs lost since the 2001 recession. Despite this recession, the TANF caseload has decreased by 1.8 percent.

State of the Black Economy
Over the past 30 years, African Americans have made great progress in bringing down barriers that did not allow them to fully participate in the U.S. economy; yet barriers remain. Although African Americans comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population, they face much higher unemployment rates and poverty rates than whites.

Social Security Privatization and African Americans
For years, proponents of privatizing Social Security, also known as Old Age, Survivor and Disability Insurance
(OASDI), have promoted the idea of diverting all or a portion of the Social Security payroll tax to fund individual retirement accounts.

POLICY BRIEFS

The Social Security Privatization Crisis
For years, proponents of individual accounts have argued that African Americans can make up for centuries of discrimination and disadvantage by investing a portion or all of their Social Security payroll contributions in the stock market.

Social Security and Women
For women who receive Social Security benefits, most are eligible as a result of working and paying into the Social Security Trust fund. After a long life of working significantly lower-wage jobs than men, women more frequently depend on Social Security Administration (SSA), the distribution of women recipients for Blacks and Whites slightly differ.

The Impact of Medicare Reforms on African Americans
Recent passage of H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, has created a need to better understand the complexities of the new law upon underserved populations. This paper summarizes key aspects of the legislation including the prescription drug benefit and the expanded support for private insurers and analyzes their likely effect on African American seniors --- a vulnerable Medicare population.

Social Security Privatization and African Americans
For years, proponents of privatizing Social Security, also known as Old Age, Survivor and Disability Insurance
(OASDI), have promoted the idea of diverting all or a portion of the Social Security payroll tax to fund individual retirement accounts.

RESEARCH REPORTS

Climate Change in the African American Community
Where U.S. Energy Policy is concerned, African Americans are proverbial canaries in the mineshaft. We are on the frontline of the likely social, enviromental, and economic upheaval resulting from climate change. As a consequence, energy policy and climate change are issues of fundamental importance to the African American community.

Taking Stock of the Employment Opportunities of Less-Educated African American Men