What does poverty mean to you?
We can all claim that we are poor when we look at
others with bigger houses, bigger cars or even
bigger boats. We would think that we are poor when
we watch countless shows in television extolling the
world of the rich and famous. We can't help to think
that we are poor when we read in the newspaper last
Sunday of the almost obscene salaries and
compensation some CEOs are making.
Poverty in America is more real
than that, but nothing compared to the real poverty
in the world. Last year,
the Census Bureau released its annual report on
poverty in the United States declaring that there
were nearly 35 million poor persons living in this
country in 2002, another yet small increase from the
preceding year.
From 1998 figures:
- Proportion of Americans
living below the poverty level: 12.7 percent
(34.5 million people)
- The average poverty
threshold for a family of four: $16,660 in
annual income
- The average poverty
threshold for a family of three: $13,003 in
annual income
- Poverty rate for
metropolitan areas: 12.3 percent
- Poverty rate for those
living inside central cities: 18.5 percent
- Poverty rate for those
living in the suburbs: 8.7 percent
- Percentage and number of
poor children: 18.9 percent (13.5 million)
- Children make up 39
percent of the poor and 26 percent of the total
population.
- The poverty rate for
children is higher than for any other age group.
For
most us, we may think poverty as a state of
destitution, an inability to provide our family with
nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter.
Surprisingly enough, only a small number of the 35
million persons classified as "poor" by the Census
Bureau fit that description. Most of America's
"poor" live in material conditions that would be
judged as comfortable or well-off just a few
generations ago.
- 46%
of all poor households own their own homes.
Classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a
three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a
garage, and a porch or patio.
- 76%
percent of poor households have air
conditioning. 30 years ago, only 36% of the U.S.
population had air conditioning.
- Only
6% of poor households are overcrowded. More than
two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
- The
average poor American has more living space than
average people living in Paris, London,
Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout
Europe.
- 3/4
of poor households own a car; 30% own two or
more cars.
- 97%
of poor households have a color television; over
half own two or more color televisions.
- 78%
have a VCR or DVD player; 62% have cable or
satellite TV reception.
- 73%
own microwave ovens, more than half have a
stereo, and a third have an automatic
dishwasher.
As a
group, America's poor are far from being chronically
undernourished. Most poor children today are, in
fact, supernourished and grow up to be, on average,
one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier that the GIs
who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.
Some poor families do however experience hunger
temporarily due to occasional food shortages at the
food banks. According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), 13 percent of poor families and
2.6 percent of poor children experience hunger at
some point during the year.
The best news is that remaining
poverty can readily be reduced further, particularly
among children. There are two main reasons that
American children are poor: Their parents don't work
much, and fathers are absent from the home. Nearly
two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent
homes; each year, an additional 1.3 million children
are born out of wedlock. If poor mothers married the
fathers of their children, almost three-quarters
would immediately be lifted out of poverty. While
work and marriage are steady ladders out of poverty,
the welfare system perversely remains hostile to
both. Major programs such as food stamps, public
housing, and Medicaid continue to reward idleness
and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned
around to encourage work and marriage, remaining
poverty would drop quickly.
To better understand how the
America's poor think to better help them rise above
this condition and to better your community in
general, please attend the Lunch and Learn session
on the Culture of Poverty, scheduled
at 11 am on August 22,
2007 in CR 6.
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