Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 45

CHAPTER 1 Getting Back to Full Employment Chapter Summary When the breadwinner in a household is out of work, or can’t find full-time work, it puts everyone living under the same roof at risk of hunger. Child hunger is directly related to the poverty that results from parents being unemployed or underemployed. Safety net programs do not fully compensate for the loss of income. Presently, hunger rates in the United States remain tremendously high in part because of a weak recovery since the end of the Great Recession. Without a deliberate attempt to reduce it, unemployment is likely to remain high for a long time. Getting back to full employment must become a higher priority for the White House, Congress and the Federal Reserve. They have tools to spur faster rates of job creation and put millions of more people back to work. MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS CHAPTER • The Federal Reserve Board should maintain its pro-jobs monetary policy as long as unemployment remains high and inflation low. • Congress should manage its work on the national budget differently—economic stimulus rather than job-killing cuts. • Congress and the president should invest in infrastructure and emerging industries. • Congress and the president should support entrepreneurship in low-income communities. www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 35 n