OBSERVATIONS ABOUT POVERTY AND HOMELESSNESS

While writing my on line workshop session about Fear of the Unknown my thoughts reflected upon those many young mothers with limited work skills who become divorced and how our society's system will treat them and their children.

I have placed my observations into this separate posting as they are not a part of my original workshop outline.

As one of the wealthiest nations on earth and with many religious groups having immense budgets it is tragic and disgraceful that so many children live in poverty.

It is not my intent to get into political issues, but having worked as a social worker for thirty years I cannot remain silent on these overwhelming social issues. When I supervised the Aid to Family with Dependent Children program, one third of the single parents on our caseloads were working poor. Many others found jobs that paid enough to be off aid within two years.

To those who say, "Lazy welfare mothers should get out and get a job?"

I respond. "Many of them do, why aren't they paid a living wage?"

There is a vast difference between the "right to work laws" and the reality of the need for the "right to a living wage" legislation.

Several times over the years, because I was a social worker, I have been accused by religious friends of not being a conservative Christian. In reality, it is because I am a conservative Christian that I have such social concerns.

I recently read an article on poverty published by the National Center Children In Poverty.

A portion of the article follows:

In 2004, approximately 18 percent of all children in the United States lived in poverty. Over the last five years, child poverty has risen substantially, increasing by 12 percent. After hitting a low of 12.1 million children in 2000, more than 1.4 million children have been added
to the poverty rolls, becoming members of this country's "new poor."

Children who grow up in poverty experience significant hardships that can have lasting effects well into adulthood.

Families typically require an income equal to twice the federal poverty level to meet their basic needs. Although the federal poverty level is widely acknowledged to be a flawed measure of families' economic insecurity, it is the source of official statistics and widely used by the media and others to describe the level of economic need in the United States.

Furthermore, eligibility for many public programs is based on the poverty level. Understanding what accounts for trends in these official statistics will help policymakers craft better public policies to prevent families from living in poverty.

At the national level, family characteristics have had little relationship with whether children experienced increasing poverty between 2000 and 2004. Overall, increases in U.S. child poverty did not vary by parents' employment status, parents' education level, or parents' nativity.

These national statistics mask varying economic realities across regions. This report examines regional differences in the family characteristics of children who have seen
the greatest rise in poverty.

During the last five years, children living in the Midwest experienced the biggest increases in child poverty, accounting for 43 percent of the national rise in the number of poor children. From National Center Children in poverty

Just think almost one in every five children in the United States is below the poverty level. If it takes twice the income above the poverty level to meet basic needs, imagine how many more children in the United States are living with unmet basic human needs!

Looking at this in another context, homeless children, we can see how low income jobs, high housing costs and some parents failure to make child support payments further damages children.

Abstract: In 2000, there were at least 930,000 school-age homeless children on the nation's streets, according to the Education Department - and only 621,000 attended classes. Since then, no national statistics on homeless youth have been compiled, but the New York Times says state figures suggest the numbers are rising. Between 2002 and 2003, for instance, the number of school-age homeless kids attending Maryland schools increased from 5,605 to 7,322.

During that same period, the overall number of homeless youths in Oregon grew from 21,000 to 28,600. In Colorado, the number of enrolled homeless rose from 4,103 to 5,963. "Schools are often the only safe haven these students have when home life disintegrates." says Sue Steele, coordinator of the homeless student initiative for the Wichita, Kan, school system (end of abstract)

It is clear to me that neither major political party has adequately addressed the issues of poor, low income children.

No where in Scripture can I find God making reference to "deserving poor" it is simply poor. Nor, to my knowledge is "trickle down" economics cited in the Word.
Yet, these are terms we hear frequently used across our nation.

In today's business section of our paper there was an article on the wealthiest getting wealthier. A chart showed that the top .01% have 3% of the wealth and the top 10% have 45% of the wealth. It seems to me that we have a "gushing up" economy.

These same wealthy individuals pay substandard minimum wages, with no health insurance benefits, to struggling workers. They then complain because their underpaid workers' collect welfare and get health care at public expense. From my perspective the low income employed are not so much the beneficiaries of welfare as are those employers who pay inadequate wages!

It is not the working poor we should censure it is the moguls who are scraping the cream off the top of our economic milk bottle. In the same article the author makes reference to some buying $700,00 pens and $40,000 purses and that luxury item sales are increasing by double digits.

Our society and churches need to work toward a more equitable distribution of wealth, so that the needs of children are adequately met. It is a major challenge that is yet to be addressed.

The reality is we are not all created equal, nor does our society treat us equally.

Hugs, In Christ's and My Love,

Don E. Cunningham, Author
Retired Social Worker and Lay Pastor. © 6-18-07 959