Corporate Voices for Working Families

Amidst the current economic downturn, employees are feeling the pinch on their pocketbooks as many employers cut jobs, hours, and benefits in an effort to stay in business. In this grueling economic climate, a new toolkit released by Corporate Voices for Working Families is most welcome for those who are eligible for tax credits and other benefits. Corporate Voices has released its updated 2009 Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned. The reference guide helps employers inform their employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicaid, and state and local benefits.

This is the seventh year that Corporate Voices has updated this guide and made it available to companies in an effort to help low-wage employees take advantage of a host of benefits.

“Employees earn these benefits but many do not know how to take advantage of them because of the complexity of the programs and paperwork involved,” said Donna Klein, Executive Chair and Founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families. “By helping employees claim tax credits and other benefits, companies build trust by making employees aware of valuable resources.”

The employer guide includes information on the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Centers. It also includes tips on how employers can talk to employees about tax credits, and guidelines to help employees avoid predatory tax-preparation practices. All of this information is designed to provide employees with guidance on existing services to help them keep more of what they earn.

Corporate Voices also encourages companies and other organizations to re-brand the toolkit and distribute it to their employees or other stakeholders. The toolkit is available for download on the Corporate Voices website, and a limited number of the toolkits are also available by contacting Corporate Voices at: 202-467-8130.

By Yvonne Siu

Amidst the continuing economic downturn and increasing unease about the lingering high levels of national unemployment, President Obama is expected this evening to announce key investments for working families in his State of the Union Address.

The new policy initiatives he is expected to propose include doubling the child tax credit for middle class families, limiting student loan repayment rates to 10 percent of income above living expenses, creating required workplace IRAs, and expanding support for families balancing work with caring for elderly relatives.

Corporate Voices wholeheartedly supports initiatives to create lasting jobs, provide greater work-life balance and strengthen America’s economy for the long term. In fact, many key Corporate Voices’ initiatives echo the themes that are expected to be embraced by President Obama in his State of the Union Address.

Donna Klein, Executive Chair and Founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families, said: “All of us who are engaged in initiatives to improve the lives of working families and the prosperity of the United States economy are encouraged that President Obama is focusing the national agenda on measures to help workers and enable them to achieve a balance between work and family responsibilities.”

Klein was one of a select group of 130 national leaders from business, nonprofit organizations, and education who were invited by President Obama to share their ideas on job creation during the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth in early December.

Corporate Voices will this week release its updated 2009 Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned. The reference guide helps employers inform their employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Medicaid, and other federal benefits to help workers keep more of what they earn.

Publications, research studies, and toolkits on a host of workforce readiness, flexibility, family economic stability, and work and family balance issues are available on the Corporate Voices web site at www.corporatevoices.org.

By Yvonne Siu

In a marked shift from the previous administration, President Obama is championing the new “Race to the Top” education initiative aimed at improving the educational quality and performance of America’s schools. The program will offer states $4.3 billion in education funding, however the grants will be contingent on states meeting certain conditions.

According to a recent report titled “No Handouts, States Compete for Education Aid” on NPR’s All Things Considered,

[States] must shut down failing schools and allow more privately run charter schools to open. They must develop tougher tests tied to higher academic standards. They have to collect better data to track student progress and make teacher training more rigorous. And finally, they must allow teachers to be evaluated based on their students’ performance and test scores.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is strongly committed to the educational reforms in the “Race to the Top” program as well, and thinks that even though some of the reforms are controversial, states will apply for funding, given the amount available for grants. So far, about 40 states are planning to apply.

What is noteworthy is that the new program will link teacher and principal evaluations to students’ academic performance.  This is something that teachers’ unions have opposed in the past , however the American Federation of Teachers says it now supports the change.

Pursuing educational reforms to strengthen academic standards and student preparedness for the workforce and life is a critical concern today. Studies have shown that new entrants into the workforce are ill-prepared in applying their knowledge and skills in the workplace.

Corporate Voices for Working Families is addressing this problem through its workforce readiness initiative. Although improving teacher performance is important, Corporate Voices treats workforce readiness as encompassing early childhood education, after school programming, older youth, alternative pathways for youth, and training and development for the workplace.

Corporate Voices is also addressing a key side of the equation: engaging not only teachers, but the business community in training and preparing young people for the workforce. As the future of America’s economic competitiveness will depend on workers well equipped to perform in a knowledge-based economy, businesses have a vested interest in helping our youth continue the American traditions of innovation and productivity.

–Yvonne Siu