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For Immediate Release
March, 31 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Kayla Ritchie
kayla.keller.ritchie@gmail.com
400,000 Call on Congress to Freeze Rent/Mortgage/Utility Payments for American Families
ParentsTogether survey indicates almost half of families already can’t afford basic necessities.
NEW YORK
As millions of families struggle to pay their bills as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, 403,525 people have signed a petition created by ParentsTogether Action, calling on Congress to suspend rent, mortgage, and utility payments, and order a full moratorium on evictions/foreclosures.
ParentsTogether Action, a national parent-led organization with over 2 million members, has also released a survey of 1200 families around the country regarding the impact the coronavirus crisis is having nationwide. The results found that nearly half of families have already lost income and that the majority of families won't be able to pay their rent/mortgage bills this month without cutting back on other basics like food.
"The stimulus bill is a first step, but it's not enough for most families and leaves out many altogether. Millions are wondering how they'll pay their rent or mortgage by tomorrow. We need additional emergency action suspending rent, mortgage and utility payments for the duration of this crisis," said Justin Ruben, Co-Director of ParentsTogether. "Parents are telling us they won't be able to pay rent unless they cut back on vital food or medication -- this isn't a choice we should be forcing people to make."
Below, please find topline findings from ParentsTogether Action's survey of more than 1200 parents and ParentsTogether members. For the full results please visit the following link.
- 68% of families are struggling as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Between March 18 to March 26, the percentage of families surveyed with children under 18 who have lost income increased from 33% to 48%. (See results from March 18 here.)
- Only 38% say they'll be able to pay their rent/mortgage on April 1 in full, without cutting back on other necessities like food. Just 30% are confident they'll be able to pay their May rent/mortgage.
- Half of families are already having to trade off between paying for basics like rent, utilities, healthcare, or food.
- 82% of respondents are worried about having enough money to cover basic housing and food costs within three months. 46% are worried about running out within the next two weeks.
- Over two-thirds of respondents say that the emergency one-time payment coming to many Americans will help tide them over for a month or less.
People around the country are sharing their stories about the bills they face and can't pay by April 1 using the hashtags #RentFreeze2020 and #MortgageFreeze.
ParentsTogether has parents available to discuss the struggles they're facing right now and will be working to stay in touch with families throughout the next few months. As a resource to parents in the very short term, the organization has launched Coronavirus Parents, a Facebook group where parents are sharing resources, ideas, small victories and strategies for getting through the crisis.
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The group's other co-president, Robert Weissman, said that"Donald Trump may have run for office pretending he was going to advocate for regular people, but his appointments show in reality he’s planning to govern, again, on behalf of the corporate class."
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Public Citizen's tracker so far details information for nine appointees, a list that "includes both Cabinet-level positions and other political appointments, many of which do not require Senate confirmation," according to a statement from the group. The tracker will be updated regularly and includes where the individual worked previously and former clients and/or business interests.
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The group also details the past work of Susie Wiles, Trump's selection for chief of staff. Wiles has been a registered lobbyist on behalf of dozens of clients, including a tobacco company "that sought to block federal health restrictions on its candy-flavored cigars" and on behalf of a mining company "that wants to eliminate federal opposition to its plan to dig a massive mine in a pristine watershed," according to additional information on Wiles provided by Public Citizen that is linked in the tracker.
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The tracker notes that Musk's former clients and business interests include "himself" and the companies he owns, several of which are currently under federal probe. According to a longer briefing on Musk by Public Citizen, at least three of the entrepreneur's companies are currently under scrutiny for alleged misconduct by at least nine federal agencies. According to a pre-election breakdown by The New York Times, Musk's companies were "promised $3 billion across nearly 100 different contracts last year with 17 federal agencies." Both the probes and the contracts underscore Musk's exposure to a federal government that he is slated to play a key role in.
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"Hands off our earned benefits!" said the group.
With Trump's support, Oz unsuccessfully ran to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate in 2022. The president-elect said Tuesday that if confirmed, Oz would work closely with Kennedy "to take on the illness industrial complex."
Kennedy's proposals for doing so include halting research on drug development, removing teeth-strengthening fluoride from drinking water, and firing Food and Drug Administration employees who have waged a "war on public health" through the "suppression" of the veterinary drug ivermectin and raw milk, which has been associated with disease outbreaks.
Oz has spent years peddling health advice, half of which University of Alberta researchers found to be "baseless or wrong" in a 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal. He promoted a study claiming coffee bean weight loss pills would "burn fat fast for anyone," but the research was later retracted. Oz also claimed that eating certain foods like red onion and endive could reduce a person's cancer risk by up to 75%, leading one paper published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer to assert, "Reality Check: There is no such thing as a miracle food."
Oz has also maintained close ties to multi-level marketing companies that promote products like vitamins with false claims about their ability to treat, cure, or prevent diseases.
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"Last week's electoral results made one thing clear: Voters overwhelmingly prioritize wages and affordability," said Jayaraman.
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