Here is an interview that David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World did with Spotlight on Poverty on the current budget and its effect on poor people here and abroad. To watch the interview click here.
America has highest poverty levels among most developed nations
Poverty in the United States is far higher than in other developed nations. According to UNICEF, the United States ranks 24th of 25 countries when ranked by the number of children living below the national poverty line.
According to the Center for American Progress, in 2005, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans had the largest share of the nation’s income (19 percent) since 1929. At the same time, the poorest 20 percent of Americans held only 3.4 percent of the nation’s income.
The nature of poverty in America
There is a common perception of what poverty in America looks like, but the true face of poverty in the United States may surprise you.
The poor do work: More than half of Americans who are considered poor do have jobs.
Poverty affects many: Half of all Americans will be poor at some time.
Most poor Americans are Caucasian: Nearly half of all people living in poverty in the United States are white non-Hispanics. However, African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to live in poverty than other ethnic groups.
Why are there poor Americans?
Several factors contribute to the state of poverty in the United States:
Illness — both physical and mental
Job loss
Limited, poor quality, or no education
Low wages
Detrimental peer or family influence
Dr. Robert Linthicum has just made available for downloading the complete three year cycle of his “The Gospel of Shalom: A Justice Reading of the Lectionary Scripture” This is based on his 48 years of study of how the Scripture deals with the issues of social justice. Reading along for the past year has changed my theology and given me a much better understanding of the problems in my community and the Church’s role in responding to those problem. Evangelicals please don’t be afraid this is a thoroughly solid evangelical work.That expresses both aspects of loving God and loving your neighbor.
The work is available in PDF downloads based on the lectionary year.
This summer he plans to release Truly Strategic Scriptures Avoided by the Lectionary, which I am looking forward to.
Anyone who wants a solid theology perspective on social justice issues should check out his website.
Urban Plunge is a one-credit Notre Dame class, held for 48 hours over winter break at cities across the nation. Seven students participated in the Pittsburgh class, from Monday evening through Wednesday evening
via Pittsburgh-area students learn firsthand about urban poverty – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The Census Bureau took a baby step toward redefining what is considered poor in America on Tuesday when it released several alternative measurements of poverty, fundamentally revising a one-size-fits-all formula developed in the 1960s by a civil servant.
via Census releases alternative formulas for gauging poverty.
The welfare rolls have absorbed relatively few of the Americans who have tumbled lately into poverty or unemployment.
The quiz is available at Half in Ten.
This is a very interesting article.
Drugs are a major problem in my working class/low income neighborhood. At one time there were two active crack houses the second house away from mine on either side. In the past five years more than 200 rounds have been fired with-in a three block radius of my house. During a six week period last summer there were 8 shots-fired incidents in my neighborhood. New Kensington has an outstanding police department; our police do an excellent job of trying to close down the problem, but it keeps reappearing. As I write this there is not an active drug house on my block. However, two drug users were arrested in front of my house last week.
I see the effects of the drug problem every day. Most of the dealers I have seen are young men 18-25 without an education and without any prospects of gainful employment. Slum landlords are part of our problem but even in that poverty is the ultimate reason there are slum landlords.
I keep asking myself what is the fuel for the problems I see daily here in my neighborhood. I think this author has nailed it on the head. Poverty.
This is an important article that looks at the problem of poverty as the source.
If we are ever going to solve our social problems we need to address and eliminate poverty. This will take a concerted nation-wide effort.
Please read the article below.
Addiction exacts a toll not because the latest drug is more addictive or more potent than its predecessors but because there is too little treatment, few family or community supports and acute economic insecurity in low-income households.
via The drug war on the poor: America doesn’t have a drug problem, it has a poverty problem.
Why would the working poor pay more? Because the proposal would replace this year’s Making Work Pay (MWP) credit with a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. That’s a good deal for high earners, who got nothing from MWP (thanks to an income phaseout), but a bad deal for those making $20,000 or less.
via TaxVox: the Tax Policy Center blog :: The Obama-GOP Deal: A Tax Hike for the Working Poor.
The U.S. child poverty rate has fluctuated between 15 and 23 percent for the past four decades, but far more children—37 percent—live in poverty at some point during their childhoods. Being poor at birth strongly predicts future poverty status. Using the PSID, this study finds that 49 percent of children who are poor at birth go on to spend at least half their childhoods living in poverty. In addition, children who are born into poverty and spend multiple years living in poor families have worse adult outcomes than their counterparts in higher-income families.
Not only did Congress give zillionaires billions of dollars in tax breaks, they also told the people at the bottom of the economic ladder, “tough luck.” With unemployment at nearly 10 percent and 19 million Americans currently living in “deep poverty” (below half the poverty line), federal funds for the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) program, the federal program that replaced welfare, have entirely dried up for the first time since 1996.
via Billions for Millionaires, Zilch for Neediest Families | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG.
Senate Attempt at Full-Year Appropriations Collapses
Child Care, Head Start, Disabilities, and Housing Programs Likely to Suffer
There was an outside chance that Congress would be able to agree on a full-year appropriations bill during the waning days of its session. For parents needing help with child care or placing their children in Head Start, the outcome was very important. These programs are facing a significant loss of funding as the temporary increase provided by economic recovery legislation expires. An omnibus spending bill proposed by the Senate Appropriations Committee would have mitigated the loss of the temporary funding by increasing child care base dollars by $681 million and Head Start by $840 million over their FY 2010 levels.
via CHN: Senate Attempt at Full-Year Appropriations Collapses.
Each year, Here’s Life Inner City distributes thousands of Homeless Care Kits to children and families who are desperately in need. This year, with your help, we’re praying to distribute 5,820 Kits. Each package contains: blankets, gloves, scarves, caps, socks, hygiene basics … and the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ.
via Here’s Life Inner City’s iHope Blog » Blog Archive » Here’s Life’s Care Kits Keep the Homeless Warm.
From Food for the Hungry. This is an interactive PowerPoint program that lets you experience the kinds of life and death decisions that are made by people around the world who are living in poverty. Please go to Hungry Decisions to dowmload this resource to understand hunger and poverty.
This is a very interesting article that presents a different take on micro-finance and a solution to some of the problems associated with it.
The article is from a blog at Food For the Hungry.
Microfinance is an idea that’s been around for some years. Basically, you lend poor people, who would normally be unable to get credit, small amounts of money, in the hope that they start businesses with them and thereby lift themselves out of poverty. The amounts are small and people don’t need traditional security (savings, property, regular income) to prove they can pay it back.
But the unpleasant truth is that credit still needs to be repaid, otherwise none of the institutions which offer it would still be in business – when in fact, they’re amongst the biggest organisations in Bangladesh. Microfinance is an enormous business – nowhere more so than in Bangladesh, where it was born in the 70′s.
The president of World Vision explains why poverty is getting worse—and how this generation can stop it.
Our world is increasingly divided between rich and poor. When I was born, the richest countries were 35 times as wealthy as the poorest. Half a century later, it stood at 75 to 1. The divide more than doubled on the watch of my generation—the one that vowed to end war and save the planet.
The child nutrition bill that President Obama signed this morning includes an important new option that will allow thousands of schools in high-poverty areas to focus on feeding children rather than processing paperwork. This is a terrific opportunity for states to serve more low-income children through the school meals program.
Known as “community eligibility,” the option will allow schools or school districts where the vast majority of the students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price meals to serve free breakfasts and lunches to all children. Families won’t have to complete applications providing detailed information on their income. And schools won’t have to process those applications or have a cashier figure out whether to provide a free or reduced-price meal every time a child goes through the lunch line.
The media were quick to condemn ACORN’s alleged misbehavior, but they’ve been extraordinarily slow to report on independent studies that have exonerated the organization. Investigations by two state attorneys general uncovered no illegal behavior. According to the GAO, all complaints filed against ACORN with the Federal Elections Commission were dismissed. Six FBI investigations into alleged voter fraud by ACORN employees were closed without indictments.
This March a federal District Court ruled that the law Congress passed cutting off ACORN’s federal funding was a bill of attainder, a type of law specifically prohibited by the Constitution because of the Founding Fathers’ fear that a powerful and vindictive federal government could single out a single individual or organization for penalties.
World Vision Latest News ONE Poverty UNlocked
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