Three years ago, before the recession officially began, 50.3 percent of women ages 55 to 64 were working full- or part-time. As of last month, according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that had risen to 54.1 percent, an increase that becomes even more considerable when compared to every other sector of the workforce.

The percentage of working men ages 25 to 54, for example, declined during the same period from 89.1 to 86.4 percent. Working women ages 25 to 54 declined from 73.9 to 71.6 percent. Working men ages 20 to 24 declined 5.4 percentage points, women ages 20 to 24 declined 5.1 percentage points, and men ages 55 to 64 declined half a point. Every category declined, in other words, except older women, reported The Washington Post.

Today there are nearly 2 million people behind bars in the United States -- more than 70% of them are people of color and the majority are non-violent offenders. Why are we incarcerating so many people and so rapidly? How is it that prisons have become a quick-fix for poverty, drug addiction, illiteracy, mental illness and unemployment? Former HCMA winner Eric Schlosser -- also author of Reefer Madness, Fast Food Nation and a forthcoming work on the American prison system -- will discuss these questions and more at an upcoming event that will benefit Books Through Bars(New York).

Details:

Tuesday October 7th, 7 PM
At Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street (btw Stanton & Rivington)
Lower East Side, NYC
F train to 2nd Ave, J/M/Z to Delancey and Essex
(212) 777-6028
Entrance: $5 or $3 with a paperback dictionary
Additional book/postage/money donations welcome

Books Through Bars(New York) is an all volunteer run organization at ABC No
Rio community center, which sends donated books to prisoners across the
country for free.

According to The Associated Press, September saw a net increase of 57,000 jobs in a variety of industries, as reported by the Labor Department. However, roughly 29,000 factory jobs were lost -- a number lower than in previous months.

Key quote:

"This is potentially the key turning point," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "It is really taking on the tone of a labor market that is finally getting over the hump. Indeed, this is what we need to create the confidence in both the household sector and the business sector that this recovery is real."

The Labor Department has reported that new applications for unemployment insurance rose by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 to 399,000 for the work week ending Sept. 27, according to the Associated Press.

The increase was attributed to laid-off workers who had been prevented from filing because of Hurricane Isabel. The nation's unemployment rate, now at 6.1 percent, is expected to nudge up to 6.2 percent for September. The economy also is expected to have lost around 25,000 jobs during that month, which would mark the eighth month in a row of job losses, reported the AP. The government will release the nation's employment report for September on Friday.

World Hunger Year has launched a new website that thoroughly explores and provides innovative solutions to common community problems like rural poverty, domestic hunger, forgotten farmworkers and more.

The number of Americans who lack health insurance reached a startling 43.6 million in 2002 -- a rise of 5.7 percent -- according to figures to be released today by the Census Bureau.

Overall, 15.2 percent of Americans were uninsured last year, up from 14.6 percent in 2001. The largest jump came among people who had received health benefits through their jobs, as some firms laid off workers and others reduced coverage, reported The Washington Post. Young adults and Latinos once again were the least likely to have medical coverage. Primarily because of government-run health programs, children and the elderly have the highest rates of coverage.

Key quotes:

"These figures and those on the poverty level in the United States indicate our country has a profound challenge in front of it, namely how, with all the wealth and power we have aggregated, can we ensure that all Americans are at the table of economic opportunity and have access to health care," said the Rev. Michael Place, president of the Catholic Health Association of the United States. "What we need from leaders is the same type of focus that can win a war in Iraq."

It wasn't just low-wage workers who struggled to afford health coverage, said Kate Sullivan, director of health care policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, noting that 900,000 full-time workers lost insurance in 2002. "The number of people earning over $50,000 without coverage is rising," she added. "This shows they're not immune."

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recognized Cuba as an active partner in the Food Security Programme and one of the few countries in the world being very serious in pursuing the fight against poverty at all levels in both urban and rural areas, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

The announcement came as FAO representative Roberto Arias Milla was at a press conference on the occasion of the World Food Day to be celebrated in Cuba from Oct. 1-16. Cuba will conduct a host of activities, such as seminars, painting exhibitions, marathons and concerts in honor of World Food Day this year.

Milla commended Cuba on its efforts with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to train experts in food security and to contribute to solving food-security problems in a number of countries.

Even without counting AIDS and HIV, Africa's 800 million people are the unhealthiest in the world, according to a report from the African Health Sciences Congress.

This annual meeting of experts said that improvements made in African healthcare in the '60s and '70s had been lost because of poverty. Unnecessary deaths and suffering have paired up with the undermining of economic development and the social fabric, and the report called on African countries to create systems to respond more promptly to threats from disease.

Key quote:

"In spite of the availability of suitable tools and technology for prevention and treatment, poverty and weak health systems have worsened health problems in Africa," said the report released at the gathering in the Ethiopian capital (of Addis Ababa).

Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has pledged $1 billion in aid for African education and health care over five years.

The prime minister's promise opened a three-day conference in Tokyo on fighting poverty and promoting sustainable development in Africa. According to The New York Times, experts say that while Japanese aid is critical to Africa, it also furthers Tokyo's strategy of assuming a more prominent role in global diplomacy -- including an aim to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.