A Wealth of Poverty

The United States Census Bureau last week released it's annual state-of-the-economy report. It's findings are really heartbreaking for the greatest, richest nation on earth; 1 out of every 7 Americans is now living in poverty. Look around you; for every 7 people you see, 1 of them is probably extremely poor, maybe even homeless or near it. The figures released are for 2009, Obama's 1st year in office, and wipe out the gains made by the long-running War on Poverty. Poverty is now winning the war. The percentage of Americans, of all ages, living below the poverty level is now at 14.3%. That's up almost 4,000,000 people from the year before (2008). The percentage is the highest it's ever been since the Census Bureau started keeping records in the 1950's, and the highest it's been since George Bush was elected President the 1st time in 2000. Then it was 11.3%, and began to steadily climb once the Democrats gained a Congressional majority during his 2nd term. The increase in poverty-stricken Americans would have been worse last year except for the increase in people drawing Social Security benefits and unemployment benefits.

The face of the homeless is changing, too. Instead of the stereotypical alcoholic or addict homeless, today's poverty-stricken is likely to be workers who can't earn enough to survive, or middle-class workers who are unemployed, or under-employed. Poverty is not just for the unskilled or uneducated anymore. My daughter goes with her church mission to downtown Phoenix to pass out food and bottled water; she said it has changed her entire perception of what homeless people look like. It's not just the stereotypical male homeless person anymore either. Families are being affected in greater numbers than ever before. Families are being separated, leaving children with relatives while parents move to look for work, or go into homeless shelters. They are having to rely on friends or family for support; "doubling up" increased 8.6% since 2008. The number of families receiving food stamps has increased by about 25% since Obama took office. Child poverty rose to 20.7%; that's more than 1 in 5 children in America living in poverty now. That's a crying shame. America, wake up.
(sources: Yahoo News and Los Angeles Times)