Group urges Ore. lawmakers to pass $15 minimum wage

Oregon’s children continue to face significant barriers to success, Children First for Oregon’s said Wednesday in its newly released 2015 Progress Report, urging lawmakers to enact a $15-an-hour minimum wage and devote more funding to early-childhood education.

“Despite slight improvements in some areas, progress for children is largely stalled – but by adopting policies under consideration this year, Oregon lawmakers would put thousands of children on the path towards a more prosperous future,” the group said in a news release, the rest of which follows.

The report details a litany of challenging statistics for Oregon’s children including:

Tens of thousands of Oregon children lack access to early learning. Head Start programs in Oregon only have room for 35% of qualified Oregon children due to limited funding.
A child in Oregon has a 1 in 5 chance of being poor – even if one of her parents works. Oregon’s child poverty rate has increased 10% since the end of the Great Recession in 2009.

“In Oregon, more than half of children in poverty live in a home with a working adult; this is unacceptable. We must make significant and immediate changes or this generation of Oregon’s children will have fewer opportunities than their parents,” says Children First for Oregon Executive Director Tonia Hunt. “Now is the time to unite around our kids. This year’s report shares proven policies that will make an immediate and long-lasting difference for kids in our state.”

In the Progress Report, Children First has called on lawmakers to implement solutions that would immediately benefit Oregon’s kids. Those policies include:

End working poverty by enacting a $15 minimum wage
Expanding early education
Increasing investment in proven policies like home visiting for at risk parents.

Together, these policies would help boost living wages, increase educational achievement, and reduce rates of child abuse and neglect.

The steady decline in the well-being of Oregon’s children stands in stark contrast to the overwhelming public support for children ‘s issues.

“When it comes to caring for and providing opportunity for all Oregon children , there’s a disconnect between our values and our public policy decisions,” said Hunt.

In response, Children First for Oregon has created United for Kids, a statewide pro-child movement, to call on businesses, voters, elected officials, faith communities and service providers to speak with a unified voice for Oregon’s youngest residents.

Organizations and individuals who join United for Kids agree on the simple premise that children should be a top priority in Oregon’s public policies.

Learn more about United for Kids at www.ORUnitedforKids.org and download the 2015 Progress Report at www.CFFO.org/Publications .