Staggering high child poverty rate in the USA
ByA headline caught my eye. Made me stop everything else to read the article. The headline in my news update of Philanthropy Today says that 18% of children live in poverty.
Sure. Fair enough. We’ve all seen these kinds of meaningless statistics thrown out there for people to think about or not. But the reason for my instant interest was the fact that this stat applies to the USA.
That’s right. Nearly one in five children in the United States live in poverty. The richest country in the world has children living in poverty. Not only is the USA the richest country, or at least in the top ten, but it must rate as one of the more Christian focused countries too with a stated 40% of Americans maintaining they attend church regularly.
Comparing the poverty rate in India and in the USA is quite amazing. One always thinks of India as the poor country. Images of child beggars, even movies like Slumdog Millionaire confirming these images in ones mind.
However the USA has roughly 13 to 17% living below the federal poverty line and some 40% falling below the poverty line at some point within a 10 year time span. That compares to India’s 42% live below the international poverty line. They don’t look like worlds apart after all.
Somehow it doesn’t seem that horrific to think of a poor India. That doesn’t mean to say that one should condone the situation. It’s just that India is fighting fiercely to right this wrong. In 1975 65% of the population fell into the category. Now at 40% there’s been a fair drop since then.
But why would the USA have such high poverty rates? This is the land where the American dream is supposedly providing every person with the opportunity to make it. In other words they can make a living, improve their standard of living, build a future for their children. Even make it big.
How does an 18% child poverty rate fit into this picture? In my mind it just doesn’t at all. What is the USA doing about it? Not that much it seems as the figures have worsened in the last years. And let’s not blame the recession again. So convenient.
How can a mega-power like the USA allow it’s children to live in poverty? I don’t understand. Maybe somebody can explain it to me.
2 Comments
July 29th, 2010 at 12:53 am
You certainly make an interesting point. I never would think that India and the U.S.’s poverty rates could ever be that similar (even if we are looking at % who have been in poverty in 10 years). In terms of what to do about it, it of course in not the fault of the children. That said, how do you bring people out of poverty? Everyone has a different opinion, and no one wants to work together. That’s part of the real challenge IMHO.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Could it possibly be that some people in the U.S. are having children that they can’t afford to have? Just a thought.