WATCH: These powerful stories show why we need to share the Success Sequence each and every day

by David Bass | Jun 9, 2022

WATCH: These powerful stories show why we need to share the Success Sequence each and every day

Key Points

All young people — not just those who come from rich families — deserve to know this “secret to success”: get an education, work hard, get married, and then have children.
No matter the challenges young people face, there is a path to build a bright future — through the Success Sequence.
Institute for Family Studies has shared 3 powerful videos that show the face and opportunity brought by the Success Sequence.

The Success Sequence and its impact

“The choice of having children too early is one you’ll have to play catch up with for the rest of your life.”

“I wish that I had made some different decisions when I was young. Think before you act. Definitely be intentional about the decisions you’re making at that age, because they do have a lasting effect on your life.”

“Having to get food donated to us was the bottom of my life.”

Those are just a few of the powerful quotes contained in the narrative stories — called Straight Talk About the Success Sequence — in a series of new videos on the Success Sequence from the Institute for Family Studies.

The basic premise of this campaign is simple: All young people — not just those who come from rich families — deserve to know this “secret to success”: get an education, work hard, get married, and then have children.

As you know, the Success Sequence is a powerful and proven way for even the most disadvantaged men and women to avoid poverty and to have a shot at the stable, happy family life they really want.

The Success Sequence:
His Story

Part One: Men

The numbers prove it all

Statistics show that 97% of young people who follow these steps are not poor later in life, and fully 85% of them enter the middle class.

Can it really be that simple? That’s what’s so great about the Success Sequence: The answer is simple, but the key is to get the information to young people at the right time.

No matter the challenges young people face, there is a path to build a bright future — through the Success Sequence.

It’s organizations like the Georgia Center for Opportunity that are bringing the truth of the Success Sequence to young people every day. Whether it’s GCO’s work to expand educational options for all students, bring career opportunities to the impoverished, or bringing relationship enrichment classes to local communities, we are on the front lines. The Institute for Family Studies recognizes this.

The Success Sequence:
Her Story

Part Two: Women

“The Success Sequence is only effective as a concept if it’s shared in practical ways with young people,” said Brad Wilcox, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. “On-the-ground organizations like the Georgia Center for Opportunity play a key role in this. Our young people deserve to know about their potential to take hold of the American Dream.”

Please share these important videos on social media, with your friends and family, and with young people in your life who need to hear this important message. We need to spread the word on the Success Sequence so that other young people don’t face the same struggles in life faced by Scott, Stephanie, and Caylie and Carlos.

The Success Sequence:
Their Story

Part Three: Cohabitation

America’s Labor Force Problem Goes Beyond Economics

by Erik Randolph | Jun 2, 2022

America’s Labor Force Problem Goes Beyond Economics

Key Points

Separation from the workforce is impacting mental, physical and social health of our communities.
Some employees are choosing to leave or refuse work to stay ahead on bills.
Government safety-net programs must be reconfigured to move people into work for both economic & social well-being.

Originally Posted on Real Clear Politics

One legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic could be the devastation it brought to the American worker by disconnecting millions from the workforce.

New research estimates that 3 million workers plan to remain permanently sidelined over concerns of physical illness or physical impairment due to COVID-19.

The research team named this phenomenon “Long Social Distancing” and found that more than 13% of Americans who worked in 2019 plan to continue social distancing after the pandemic ends. An additional 46% will engage in limited forms of social distancing.

The study estimates the depressed labor force participation from Long Social Distancing will dampen Gross Domestic Product by 1.4%. But the impact on individuals and their families will be far worse.

Separation from the labor force obviously means less income and financial security for the individual’s future. But there are other costs from nonwork that extend beyond the financial disadvantages, including long-term mental, physical, and social health impacts for workers, their children, their families, and their communities.

Simply put, our labor force situation today is a social, mental, and community crisis in the making. That’s particularly true for the poor and working class.

Kevin discovered that work is more than a paycheck.

During the pandemic, the so-called “laptop class” of professional workers fared fairly well. They were able to maintain social distance from others while still working to earn income. Many of these workers found that remote jobs allowed them to create a healthier work-life balance, so they abandoned their former desk jobs in favor of a more flexible lifestyle.

In stark contrast, working-class adults who couldn’t perform their jobs from home have been hit hard. Those who continued to work were often placed at a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure. Others suffered more because their employers shut down, resulting in a devastating loss of income. Many small business owners suffered income loss and in some cases were forced to close their businesses permanently.

According to the Long Social Distancing study, the majority of Americans who don’t plan to return to work have a high school education or less (17.6%). Unemployment tended to decrease based on both education level and income, with the highest number of labor non-participation among those who previously earned $10,000 to $20,000 per year. Nonwork was highest among females aged 50-64 (17.5%), followed by male respondents of the same age group (12.9%).

It follows, then, that the most significant impact labor non-participation will have on America lies among lower-income communities — many of whom were likely already struggling to make ends meet.

Federal stimulus programs have been important to these individuals, helping them weather the combined storm of the virus and government-imposed lockdowns and shutdowns. Although these government programs sustained many people throughout the crisis, they also created major problems as we emerge from the worst of the pandemic.

Some unemployed people found that they were better off leaving their jobs and receiving government assistance instead. In many cases, unemployment benefits paid better than the jobs they’d previously occupied. This aggravated pre-existing issues with labor force non-participation, helping to fuel inflation as work stoppages led to disruptions in the supply-chain flow of goods and services.

Worsening the problem even more, many Americans experienced so-called “benefit cliffs” where their government support, such as food stamps, fell off in response to an increase in income. In some cases, families lost government benefits after a comparatively small pay raise. This creates additional disincentives for work.

So, what’s the path forward? In order to get unemployed adults back to work, we’ll need a change in perspective. Work must be regarded as something worthwhile in itself beyond a weekly or biweekly paycheck, because it is. A steady job gives each worker a sense of purpose, provides a stable life to their families, and helps maintain mental health.

Nonwork has a direct impact on children not only in the present, but as research shows it can impact their future, too. It creates perpetuating cycles of dependency that lead to instability for the children in these homes. This creates a systemic crisis in marginalized communities. If our goal is truly to overcome generational poverty, creating a culture that uplifts and prizes work is essential.

It’s essential to address safety-net programs as part of the solution. Programs that help in the immediate aftermath of job loss are not enough. In addition to meeting immediate needs — such as unemployment assistance and food — unemployed individuals need support and encouragement to know that work is beneficial to our mental and social health.

And importantly, safety net programs cannot create disincentives from earning more money and getting ahead in society. Government programs need to be reconfigured so they no longer interfere with the upward economic mobility of individuals and their families. They need to consider the overall well-being of the recipients and their families over the long-term, not just the short-term.

Our ultimate goal should be to help those sidelined by the pandemic reconnect to work — not only for their economic health, but for their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Georgia House subcommittee to examine recruiting and retention challenges for state’s workforce | Jackson Progress-Argus

by Corey Burres | May 24, 2022

Georgia House subcommittee to examine recruiting and retention challenges for state’s workforce | Jackson Progress-Argus

A new state House subcommittee plans to examine the Georgia workforce’s challenges in recruiting and retaining talent…

Meanwhile, the Georgia Center for Opportunity has joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Louisiana’s Pelican Institute for Public Policy to create the Alliance for Opportunity. The group will explore the issue and develop recommendations to reduce the number of people in poverty.

“A subcommittee is a good first step but there aren’t any set deadlines yet for the committee so we will see where it goes,” Corey Burres, vice president of communications for the GCO, told The Center Square.

“The key is to understand that work is the solution to poverty. It helps communities and individuals thrive and find dignity,” Burres added. “As long as the system and policies work to drive that goal home, only good can come out of it.”

Read the full article here

Experts say Georgia policymakers should remove governmental barriers to job creation | The Center Square

by Corey Burres | May 16, 2022

Experts say Georgia policymakers should remove governmental barriers to job creation | The Center Square

As the Consumer Price Index continues to rise, a Georgia nonprofit says the state should remove barriers to jobs to facilitate business growth.

The non-seasonally adjusted CPI rose 0.3% in April and has increased 8.3% in the last 12 months…

“Economics 101 teaches that increasing supply means both lower prices (lower inflation) and more employment and economic growth,” Randolph added. “Increases in demand have a trade-off between prices and employment/growth. Therefore, anything state governments can do to facilitate job growth and business growth will help mitigate inflationary pressures. In other words, enhancing the productive capacity increases supply, putting downward pressure on prices.”

Read the full article here

Inflation slowed in April, but prices continued their steady increase | KTBS

by Corey Burres | May 11, 2022

Inflation slowed in April, but prices continued their steady increase | KTBS

Inflation continued its steady rise in April, when the Consumer Price Index increased 8.3% over last year, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For the month, the CPI rose 0.3%. That’s down from the 1.2% spike in March, but higher than analysts expected. The 8.3% increase over last year remains near 40-year highs, the bureau reported…

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s welcomed the slowed inflationary number, but said supply issues continue to drive up costs for everyone.

“The fact that inflation ticked down in April is welcome relief, but the rate is still higher than what economists predicted and is still running super hot,” Erik Randolph, GCO’s director of research, said in a statement. “A contributing cause to inflation is disruptions on supply. … Economics 101 teaches that increasing supply means both lower prices (lower inflation) and more employment and economic growth. Increases in demand have a trade-off between prices and employment/growth. Therefore, anything state governments can do to facilitate job growth and business growth will help mitigate inflationary pressures. In other words, enhancing the productive capacity increases supply, putting downward pressure on prices.”

Read the full article here

Why Nonprofits Should Care and What to Do

by Eric Cochling | May 2, 2022

Why Nonprofits Should Care and What to Do

Key Takeaways:

Welfare cliffs and marriage penalties are discouraging people from work and forming families.
The cliffs and penalties may mean that our clients are locked into poverty for much longer than they would be otherwise and despite our best efforts.
GCO has created a platform that allows anyone to see when a particular family can expect to experience benefit cliffs as they earn more money through work.

Important Link: BenefitsCliff.org

If you work in a nonprofit serving the poor, you need to know that the government benefits your clients receive are likely discouraging them from working or forming a family, two things that research shows could lift them out of poverty the fastest.

This is an especially tough problem for nonprofits, like GCO, that work to get their clients into good-paying jobs and strengthen their family relationships.

What’s going on?

These disincentives to work are often called “welfare cliffs” and the disincentives to family formation are called “marriage penalties.” Essentially, “cliffs” are generated any time a person receiving government benefits gets a raise at work that causes them to lose more in benefits than they will earn in additional income from the raise. These same individuals can face a similar financial penalty IF they decide to marry. In many cases, they will lose more in benefits than their spouse is able to provide in new income to the household.

While you would think (hope?) cliffs and penalties are rare, they are not. Instead, they are baked into the structure of nearly all welfare programs and many of the cliffs are severe. It’s also important to know that welfare recipients don’t face a single cliff or a single penalty, but they face cliffs and penalties at a number of different points as they have additional income from working or through marriage.

Why does it matter?

For nonprofit leaders, the cliffs and penalties may mean that our clients are locked into poverty for much longer than they would be otherwise and despite our best efforts. For workforce development nonprofits, cliffs could be the underlying reason why your clients don’t pick up additional work hours when they are offered or seem less than excited when they are offered a good promotion. In extreme cases, clients may quit jobs that seemed like a perfect fit simply because they panic when they learn they may lose a major benefit – like housing or childcare.

For nonprofits trying to help strengthen family relationships, marriage penalties may be driving behavior that is otherwise inexplicable, like seemingly happy couples refusing to marry or live in the same home. These dynamics can lead to stress for the couples affected and to a sense that a parent (usually the father) has abandoned the family when, if the system would allow it, he would be in the home. In these cases, children pay the biggest price.

What can you do about it?

Fortunately, we have created a platform that allows anyone to see when a particular family can expect to experience benefit cliffs as they earn more money through work. For nonprofits working with these families, you now have a tool (available for 10 states, with two more on the way) that will allow you to help your clients plan for the future. In some cases, knowing when cliffs are likely to happen will allow your clients to seek a larger raise that will help them bypass or leapfrog a cliff. In other cases, maybe the answer is seeking additional training or certifications that will get your client into a different payscale entirely – one that avoids the cliffs.

In the coming weeks, we will be adding a tool that will allow users to see the impact of penalties on couples who decide to marry. We will also be incorporating a solutions tool that will allow anyone to see how reforming our government benefit programs can actually eliminate cliffs and penalties entirely, giving recipients every reason to pursue work and form stable households.

For GCO, it is this last point – reforming the system – that remains the ultimate goal. In the meantime, we are looking for ways to mitigate the harm caused by the welfare system, so that as many people as possible can escape the system and break cycles of poverty now.

The Success Sequence provides an outline of how to reverse the cycle of poverty in our communities. GCO uses this as a framework for much of our work.