This from "The Japan Times" - they know more about poverty in the USA than we do.
Follow link to original
"For example, the U.S. ranks second-highest among all
measured countries with 23.1 percent of children living in poverty,
slightly better than Romania, with 25.6 percent."
Interesting, don't you think?
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/09/22/commentary/politicians-hardly-ever-mention-americas-poor/#.UkJh2hCynA4
U.S. Republican and Democratic
politicians have one thing in common: They hardly mention the poor. For
all practical purposes, they are a neglected minority.
President Barack Obama speaks about his push to secure “a better
bargain for the middle class,” and House Speaker John Boehner states,
“We cannot grow the middle class and foster job creation by growing
government and raising taxes.” The poor have become a “dirty word” in
American politics.
Poverty in America shows no preference for race — anybody can be
affected. Although racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live
in poverty, race disparities among the poor have narrowed significantly
since the 1970s. Still, by race, nonwhites have a higher risk, estimated
at 90 percent, of being economically insecure.
Although the gap between the rich and the poor narrowed after World
War II, as public policies helped the poor and the middle class, that
gap between the richest 1 percent and the rest of the country is now the
widest since the Roaring 1920s. In 2012, the top 10 percent captured
48.2 percent of total earnings.
In 2009, 47 million Americans depended on food banks, an increase of
30 percent above 2007 levels. Children living in households headed by
single mothers are most likely to be affected.
The District of Columbia, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida
were the worst affected, while the least affected were North Dakota, New
Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota and Massachusetts.
A 2012 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed
alarming child poverty rates in the U.S., particularly when compared to
other nations. For example, the U.S. ranks second-highest among all
measured countries with 23.1 percent of children living in poverty,
slightly better than Romania, with 25.6 percent.
Despite their high numbers they are sometimes called “the invisible
poor” since they tend to live in small rural towns in America’s
heartland, far away from politicians and government officials to see, or
“feel their pain.”
Today, four out of five adults in the U.S. struggle to find jobs, are
near poverty or rely on welfare for at least part of their lives, and
the situation is likely to get worse, at least for those in the lower
echelons of the economic scale.
America’s poor remains at a record number of 46.2 million, or
approximately 15 percent of the population, due in part to still high
unemployment levels.
According to the Agricultural and Development Economics Division of
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) “food
security” refers to the availability of food and a person’s access to
it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live
in hunger or fear of starvation.
Based on this criterion, 50.1 million Americans lived in
food-insecure households (33.5 million adults and 16.7 million
children.) In 2011, 4.8 million seniors (over age 60) were food
insecure.
“Economic insecurity” has been defined as a year or more of periodic
lack of jobs, reliance on government assistance such as food stamps, or
income below 150 percent below the poverty line.
If current trends continue, by 2030 close to 85 percent of all
working-class adults in the U.S. will experience bouts of economic
insecurity, according to Mark Rank, a Professor of Social Welfare at
Washington University in St. Louis.
Poverty affects individuals’ access to quality education and quality
health care. Low income communities cannot afford the same quality of
education as high income communities. Females in poverty are more likely
to become pregnant at younger ages, and have fewer resources to care
for their children. Many among them end up dropping out of school.
The significant proportion of children living in poor and food
insecure households makes them more prone to nutritional and other
health problems.
Poor children have higher infant mortality rates, more frequent and
severe chronic diseases such as respiratory infections, less access to
quality health care, lower immunization rates and increased obesity and
its complications. Is this the panorama we expect from the richest
country in the world?
Perhaps now is the time for our politicians to incorporate the word “poor” into their vocabulary.
