For the first time, more people placing calls to employee-assistance lines are requesting help for housing problems than for the previously most common reason, child care.

The numbers come from a new report by ComPsych, which has tracked employee-assistance calls since 1984. The report looked at 25,000 calls placed between January and June of this year.

Housing, specifically moving, was the topic of 41% of all calls. Child care had 32%, elder care 17%, and health care, 10%.

Of those calling with housing issues, 77% were looking for help finding an apartment. Two-thirds of those apartment hunting cited foreclosure as the reason for their move.

The U.S. Census Bureau released figures today showing the nation's poverty rate jumped to 14.3% in 2009. That's the highest level since '94.

That rate indicates 43.6 million Americans are poor — the highest number in the nation's 51 years of keeping track.

The Office of Management and Budget defines poverty for 2009 as earning less than $21,954 for a family of four.

Read more details about the report at CNN.com.

Vermonters who rely on two of Vermont's emergency fuel assistance programs might have trouble receiving help this year.

The Burlington Free Press reports the Warmth Program and the Shareheat Fund — both administered by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) — are underfunded.

“We’ve never, ever gone into a heating season with this few resources,” says CVOEO Community Relations Director Tim Searles. “This is unprecedented."

You can send donations to Shareheat c/o CVPS, 77 Grove St., Rutland, VT 05701. Or to Warmth Program c/o CVOEO, P.O. Box 1603, Burlington, VT 15402-1603.

In response to a recent Time magazine cover story titled "Rethinking Homeownership," The Wall Street Journal today published a piece titled "10 Reasons to Buy a Home."

"Maybe there's more pain to come in the housing market," Brett Arends writes, "but when Time magazine starts running covers that declare 'Owning a home may no longer make economic sense,' it's time to say: Enough is enough."

Read the WSJ article online.