The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Creating Shared Prosperity

Melissa Boteach and Corrine Yu
Commentary

The latest poverty data revealed that 46.2 million people in America lived in poverty in 2011—about 15 percent of the population—and more than one in three lived in low-income households. Women, children, communities of color, and people with disabilities were especially hard-hit.

At the same time, Congress has stymied comprehensive job creation efforts and set forth multiple proposals to gut health, nutrition, education, and other services for struggling families. Unprecedented partisan gridlock coupled with a large long-term deficit has put a stranglehold on efforts to make new investments needed to lift people into the middle class.

In times of attack, it is natural to assume a defensive posture and to mobilize in opposition to cuts and proposals that would undermine opportunities for those on the economic margins—the communities that the civil and human rights movement has always championed.

The danger of a “defense-only” posture, however, is that the debate is waged on the opponent’s terms with little room to do anything other than stopping a backward slide at a time when what is needed are policies that will actually help begin to eradicate poverty.

Though it’s been a long time since the needs, hopes, and dreams of those at the bottom of the economic spectrum have had a prominent place in our national dialogue, several groups have recently set forth policy, advocacy, and communications tools that pivot from defense to offense, and set forth a proactive vision of a more inclusive society where prosperity is broadly shared—where families are able not just to meet basic needs, but also to have the opportunity to thrive.

Here are a few key resources stakeholders should be aware of as they seek to change the national narrative on poverty and opportunity and create the space for policy victories.

Half in Ten: From Poverty to Prosperity
Half in Ten is a project of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund, and the Coalition on Human Needs to mobilize the political and public will to cut poverty in half in 10 years and restore shared prosperity. The campaign has several new resources that help make the case that progress to create greater economic opportunity is possible—even in the context of deficit reduction—setting forth specific policy plans to achieve this goal.

Last year, CAP released a long-term budget plan that dramatically reduces poverty while balancing the budget by 2030. The plan shows definitively that lifting people out of poverty is doable and affordable, even under the strict fiscal constraints like the ones we’re grappling with today. CAP’s recent brief, “Making the Right Choice for Fiscal Stability,” walks through the various policy interventions in that plan to create greater economic opportunity and grow our economy while cutting our deficits. In “Cutting Poverty and the Federal Deficit is Possible,” CAP also shows that poverty reduction and deficit reduction have historically gone hand-in-hand and that balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable would be breaking with bipartisan tradition.

In October 2011, Half in Ten released “Restoring Shared Prosperity,” a report that established a baseline and started the clock on the campaign’s goal to cut U.S. poverty in half in 10 years. The baseline includes 20 indicators relating to good jobs, strong families, and economic security.

On November 19, Half in Ten released the second edition of the report, tracking progress from 2010 to 2011 and offering proactive policy recommendations to move the indicators in the right direction. The report also shows that cutting poverty is about all of us: When we shortchange the poor, we slam the brakes on the economy and undermine our long-term economic growth and prosperity. The report also explains how, in contrast, investments to move people off the economic margins would create greater economic growth and shared prosperity for all of us. The campaign is providing state-by-state data, rankings, and fact sheets at www.halfinten.org/indicators, along with a grassroots toolkit that is available for download at http://halfinten.org/indicators/publications/toolkit.

Prosperity Economics: Building an Economy for All
Though many of the nation’s policymakers are advocating for some form of austerity economics, several of the largest labor, community and advocacy groups in the country—including the AFL-CIO, Center for Community Change, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Economic Policy Institute, SEIU, and the National Council of La Raza—agree that prosperity economics is the best way to rebuild and restore America.

A new paper from Professor Jacob Hacker and Nathaniel Loewentheil of Yale University, “Prosperity Economics: Building an Economy for All,” provides a blueprint to achieve the kind of economy that enables every person to benefit from sustained, long-term growth that’s good for our nation, good for our communities, and good for our families.

“Prosperity Economics” identifies three distinct ways to restore the U.S. economy and create a successful future for generations to come.

Innovation-led growth grounded in job creation, public investment and broad opportunity. This will require immediate action to jump-start our sagging economy. Going forward, there is a need to invest in people and productivity that will lead to good jobs and rising wages.

Security for workers and their families, the environment and government finances. This is in recognition that markets work better when working families feel a basic security for their futures. Only when families can be sure they will not be deprived of necessities like health care and retirement security can we create a dynamic and competitive economy.

More democracy, inclusivity, and accountability in Washington and the workplace. Democracy means having a strong system of checks and balances both in our government and in the private sector that empowers citizens, guarantees more inclusive decision making and creates strong mechanisms of accountability.

Charting a New Course
In short, we cannot win victories for low-income families from a crouched, defensive position. We need to say upfront what we want to achieve and present a compelling vision of what that looks like.

We know that we can reduce poverty dramatically and create greater economic opportunity for all. We’ve done it before. These resources set out pathways to do it again, even in the context of deficit reduction. Together, we can chart a new course for the future.

Melissa Boteach is director of Half in Ten Campaign, Center for American Progress Action Fund. Corrine Yu is managing policy director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

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