capitalists claw back benefits

One out of every six Americans are in government anti-poverty programs, according to USA TODAY. More than 50 million Americans are in Medicaid. Forty million receive food stamps and 10 million receive unemployment benefits.

One million US public school students homeless. No part of the country was spared.
“These children share bedrooms with extended family, check in to cheap motels, and sleep in cars or shelters” the Delaware Online reports. “Some are with their parents. Others go it alone.”
“These kids have a lot more stress” Kathleen Kropf of Macomb County (Michigan) Intermediate School District told The Voice, a local newspaper. “They know what is going on at home, if their parents have lost their jobs or their homes are in foreclosure. How can a child do well in school and on their tests if they have not eaten or are not sleeping or they are sick?”

Employers passed health-insurance costs onto employees at a sharply higher rate this year, and businesses' premiums grew more slowly than they have in a decade, according to an annual survey of companies. As companies to cut costs amid difficult economic times, more of them are reducing benefits they offer workers or making workers pay more for them. Employees paid an average of about $4,000 toward their family coverage this year, up 14% from last year. But total insurance premiums paid by the employer and the employee rose just 3% for a family plan—the slowest rate of growth in 10 years. Cost shifting has become the norm for many of the roughly 160 million Americans who receive health insurance through an employer. 30% of firms said they reduced benefits while 23% said they raised the amount their employees pay for coverage.
"There wasn't much complaining because they feel like they're better off having a job" Mr. Becker said.