Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

Seven years ago, I found myself in a predicament. I was a 23 year old college student who worked as a cocktail waitress in a cigar lounge. I found out I was pregnant and had to quit my job in order to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure to my unborn child. I had no insurance at the time and didn’t...

MomsRising Together

Daryn Kirkpatrick

Health Care Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

I’m a mother of four and currently I’m pregnant with my fifth child (a baby girl). With each pregnancy I have had many new questions arise concerning my little one growing inside of me. The main question, I had throughout my first pregnancy was are these Braxton Hicks contractions or actual labor...

MomsRising Together

Canielle Preston

Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

It is encouraging that more children are now enrolled in health insurance programs. As health insurance costs have risen and employer-based family coverage declined, the two federal programs designed to provide health services for kids —Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)—...

MomsRising Together

Matthew Wright

Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

CHIP and Medicaid have been a stable source of health care coverage during uncertain times. With a weak economic recovery that has been slow to add new jobs with access to employer-based insurance, Medicaid and CHIP continue to be key sources of coverage for children. Thanks to CHIP and Medicaid,...

MomsRising Together

Karen Crompton

Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

There are 123,000 uninsured kids in Michigan- enough children to stretch 70 miles if they held hands, fill 2,236 school buses and form 13,666 little league teams. Decreasing that number through “on the ground”, community-based enrollment was the focus of our work as Cycle 1 CHIPRA grantee. With...

MomsRising Together

Erin Sloan-Turner

Blog Carnivals

February 28, 2012

Getting and keeping health insurance is one hurdle that the Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA) has worked to overcome as part of the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge. We’ve enrolled nearly 2,000 children in coverage through our statewide outreach efforts and because of Michigan’s unique...

MomsRising Together

Natasha Robinson

Blog Carnivals

February 15, 2012

Why worry about the hourly wages that waiters get paid by their employers – their real money comes in tips, right? That’s the logic that has left the hourly wage for tipped workers at $2.13 per hour even as the national minimum wage has moved above $7.00. My recent research makes it clear, however...

MomsRising Together

Haley-Lock Anna

Realistic & Fair Wages Blog Carnivals

February 14, 2012

The federal minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers has been $2.13 for the past 20 years. That’s right! Two dollars and thirteen cents can’t even buy a gallon of gas or milk; yet, it is the hourly federal minimum wage for thousands of restaurant workers – most of whom are women! “I have worked...

MomsRising Together

Monifa Bandele

Blog Carnivals

February 14, 2012

A blog carnival on tipped workers' wages wouldn't be complete without the voices of those working for tipped wages themselves. Below are just eighteen of the hundreds of personal stories submitted by MomsRising members. Take a look and share your responses in the comments. We'd love to hear your...

MomsRising Together

Monifa Bandele

Blog Carnivals

February 14, 2012

Name a country where large numbers of women legally earn less than minimum wage and have to drag themselves to work sick or risk losing their job. To all the places that come to mind, add the United States of America. The workers in question are employed in one of the largest and fastest growing...

MomsRising Together