Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h8U4D1V22189; Tue, 30 Sep 2003 00:13:05 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 00:13:05 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <006b01c38708$ac6eda60$bc24a5d1@air.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:1242] Connect for Kidss Articles: Poverty Rates Rising X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 4224 Lines: 86 The following articles are cross-posted from this week's Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org): FAMILIES LIVING IN TOUGH TIMES **Poverty Rates Rising for American Families The Census Bureau reports that the number of Americans living in poverty has risen for the second year in a row. The number of children in poverty rose by 400,000 -- from 11.7 million in 2001 to 12.1 million in 2002. The child poverty rate did not change, but at 16.7 percent, children face the highest poverty rate of any segment of the population. Although they make up only one-fourth of the total population, more than one-third of people living in poverty are children. http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-222.pdf The Coalition on Human Needs has links to press coverage of the income and poverty reports, and will be posting state-specific analyses of child poverty data. http://www.chn.org/issues/maintopic.asp?iss=10 Analyses of these new data are available from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. http://www.cbpp.org/9-26-03pov.htm **Hope in the Face of Adversity Political debates over support for poor families often center on whether these families are fundamentally different in character from their more affluent peers. A new Casey Foundation report gives low-wage parents a chance to speak for themselves. With family and community budgets so tight, many parents report difficulties finding affordable housing, child care, transportation and family educational and recreational activities. Most want to learn the skills they need for better jobs, and want help managing a budget and avoiding predatory lending. Many low-income parents also say that a few more educational and financial resources would make a big difference, helping them relieve the stress on their families and stabilize their circumstances. http://www.casey.org/documents/prevention_report_1.pdf **The Top One Percent Continue to Gain Ground Using data from the Congressional Budget Office and other sources, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that much income remained concentrated in the top one percent of U.S. households in 2000. Two decades of extraordinary gains for affluent households have created the widest income gaps among Americans since the Great Depression. http://www.centeronbudget.org/9-23-03tax-pr.htm **Borrowing to Make Ends Meet For families with low and moderate incomes, the "roaring 90s" were anything but -- bringing burgeoning credit debt, not incomes or stock portfolios, according to this analysis of the "Decade of Debt" from the nonpartisan group Demos. Forced to use plastic to cover the rising costs of heath care, housing and other basic needs, very low-income families' credit card debt grew by 184 percent; it rose 75 percent for middle-class families. Deregulation has brought higher annual percentage rates, penalties and fees -- resulting in greater profits for credit card companies, but bigger burdens for families. http://www.demos-usa.org/demos/debt_assets/borrowing_exec.pdf * * * * * * * * * * * * THE FRAYING SOCIAL SAFETY NET **More Working Americans Going Hungry Soaring housing costs, mothers stuck in low-wage jobs and high unemployment are forcing more and more working families to choose between rent, child care or food. "We're seeing Depression-era food lines in 21st century America," Doug O'Brien of America's Second Harvest notes in this September 12, 2003 article by Chicago Tribune writer V. Dion Haynes. http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/6754653.htm **Will State Fiscal Conditions Jeopardize Health Coverage? The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured reports that continued revenue shortfalls have forced all 50 states and the District of Columbia to make or consider additional spending cuts for Medicaid eligibility and/or benefits. "The state fiscal crisis is putting health care for low-income families and the elderly and disabled at risk. Many will get less care and others will lose it altogether," said Diane Rowland, the Commission's executive director. http://www.kff.org/content/2003/20030922/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -Mary Ann Corley NIFL-Povracelit List Moderator
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