Poverty in America: No Keener Revelation [View All]

[JeffR]

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." – Nelson Mandela

By Mandela's measure, America's soul is sick.

While the poverty rate among all Americans is currently estimated at about one in eight, among those 18 and younger it is about one in six.

To put the numbers in more concrete terms, consider this: the number of poor children in the United States is greater than the combined populations of New York and Los Angeles.

And every 33 seconds, a newborn American takes his or her first breath in poverty.

In Mandela's terms, the Children's Defense Fund 2008 annual report is indeed revelatory. Among its findings:

753 white babies per day begin their lives in poverty, along with 794 African-American babies and 956 Latino babies.

Nearly six million children in the United States experience extreme poverty, defined as being a member of a family whose income is below half of the official poverty line. That poverty line, of course, is widely considered outmoded and inadequate as a measure of real poverty.

Nine million American children have no health insurance. In Texas, which fares worst among all 50 states, 20 percent of children are uninsured. Nationwide, 20 percent of Native American children and 20 percent of Hispanic children likewise have no insurance coverage.

Among industrialized nations, the United States ranks 22nd in low birth weight rates and 25th in infant mortality.

In 2007, 12.7 percent of children in the United States received food stamp assistance. The number has risen each year since 2000 and the coming of "compassionate conservatism" to Washington.

The percentage of American children experiencing homelessness in a given year is estimated to be anywhere from five to almost eight percent. In Illinois alone, 25,000 children annually are homeless.

As "bail-out" fever sweeps Washington, it's time to put poor children at the top of the priority list.

Please contact President Obama and demand action:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Phone: [phone]

A mere eight states are home to more than half of poor children in America: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Texas.

Contact information for the Governors of these states follows:

17.3 percent of California's children live in poverty

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://www.govmail.ca.gov

17.1 percent of Florida's children live in poverty

Governor Charlie Crist
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://www.flgov.com/contact_form

19.7 percent of Georgia 's children live in poverty

Governor Sonny Perdue
The Office of the Governor
State of Georgia
203 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Web contact form:
http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.html

16.6 percent of Illinois's children live in poverty

Governor Pat Quinn
Office of the Governor (Springfield)
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: [phone]
TTY: 888-261-3336

Office of the Governor (Chicago)
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://www.standingupforillinois.org/contact/

19.4 percent of Michigan's children live in poverty

Governor Jennifer Granholm
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Phone: [phone]
Phone: [phone] - Constituent Services
Fax: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html

19.4 percent of New York's children live in poverty

Governor David Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Phone: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://161.11.121.121/govemail

18.5 percent of Ohio's children live in poverty

Governor Ted Strickland
Governor's Office
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108

General Info: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Web contact form:
http://governor.ohio.gov/Assistance/ContacttheGovernor/tabid/150/Default.aspx

23.2 percent of Texas's children live in poverty

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Web contact form accessible through this page:
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact/

This essay reposted in full by permission of peoplesing.org