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J/P Alert is the newsletter of the Justice and Peace office of CMSM. It is intended to inform and stimulate discussion and involvement among the members. Its contents do not necessarily represent official positions of CMSM.
Each January, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which is part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sponsors Poverty in America Awareness Month.
"The obligation to provide justice for all means that the
poor have the single most urgent economic claim on the conscience of
the nation...As individuals and as a nation, therefore, we are called to make a fundamental "option
for the poor." The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity
from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical
command to love one's neighbor as one's self."
[U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, 1986]
U.S. Poverty: OVERVIEW [compiled by Education for Justice]
- In 2004, 1.1 million more people fell into poverty, totaling 37 million people in the United States.
- The number of 37 million was arrived at by the U.S. Census Bureau using an arbitrary "poverty line." Certain income cut-offs define a person or family as "poor": $19,350 for a family of four with two children, $16,090 for a family of three, $12,830 for a family of two with no children, and $9,570 for a person over 65 or living alone.
- There are millions of people that are often referred to as the "working poor" who live on incomes that fall just above the poverty threshold.
- The poverty rate in the U.S. increased from 12.5 percent in 2003 to 12.7 percent in 2004, representing an increase of 1.1 million more poor people. This is the fourth year in a row the poverty rate has risen.
- The rate of poverty in the U.S. is the highest in the developed world, more than twice as high as in most other industrialized nations.
- Even while the poverty rate in the U.S. has been increasing, a recent national poll found that the number of millionaire households grew 8% in 2005, to 8.9 million. This was an increase of 700,000 new millionaire households since 2004.
Poverty: CHILDREN
- The number of families in poverty increased from 10 percent and 7.6 million in 2003 to 10.2 percent and 7.8 million in 2004. Nearly one out of every five U.S. children is poor.
- There are currently more children in poverty than ever before. 17.8% of all of America's children were poor in 2004, a total of more than 13 million.
- Children under the age of six have been particularly vulnerable to poverty. In 2003, the poverty rate for related children under six living in families increased to 19.8% or 4.7 million children, up from 18.5% and 4.3 million in 2002. Yet, of children under six living in families with only a female householder—with no father present—more than 1 out of 2, or 52.9%, were in poverty, more than 5 times the rate of their counterparts in married-couple families.
Poverty: HEALTH
- The number of people without health insurance rose from 45 million in 2003 to 45.8 million in 2004.
- The 2006 Federal Budget calls for up to $8.6 billion to be cut from the Medicaid Program (which offers health insurance for low-income families and children.)
- Nationally, children who rely on Medicaid health coverage represent nearly half of all Medicaid enrollees—but only 19 % of the total spending.
Poverty: HOUSING
- The U.S. government changed policy in 2003 on the Section 8 housing voucher program, the nation's largest low-income housing program, causing widespread reductions in the housing assistance to low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities—at a time of rising rents and housing costs.
- The 2005 Federal Budget called for further reducing the Section 8 housing voucher plan by $1 billion. While some of these cuts are proposed to be restored in the 2006 Federal Budget, the 2006 budget also calls for sharp cuts in many housing programs in the years after 2006.
- Up to 3.5 million people, including 1.4 million children, have been experiencing homelessness each year.
Poverty: FOOD
- Between May 2004 and May 2005, participation in the Food Stamp program increased by more than 1.5 million people. Also, as of May 2005, 8.53 million more persons nationally participated in the program than in July 2000. Despite these rapid rises, the 2006 Federal Budget is planning major budget cuts. The President's budget proposes to cut the Food Stamp Program by $500 million over the next five years (and by $1.1 billion over ten years) by cutting more than 300,000 low-income people off the program in an average month.
- Since 1999, the number of poor Americans suffering from "food insecurity" and hunger has increased by 3.9 million—2.8 million adults and more than 1 million children. In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity--that is, not enough food for basic nourishment—compared to 33.6 million in 2001 and 31 million in 1999.
The federal poverty line for a family of four is $19,350. A recent
study conducted by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development shows
that most
Americans believe it takes closer to $35,000 annually to adequately
feed, house, and clothe a family of four.
"How will we choose to live in this world? What kind of human beings
are we going to be? How will we be, how will we use our institutions,
to
put them to what kind of service? What do these times ask of us? For
those of us who have community, who have resources, what is asked of
us? I come back to that question over and over again. What kind of human
beings are we called to be? What kind of people of faith in this time?"
Margaret Swedish
More information in available at the website of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and from the Center of Concern's Education for Justice project.
Poverty
and Catholic Social Teaching
[from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine
of the
Church]
- The universal destination of goods: "God destined the earth and all it contains for all men and all peoples so that all created things would be shared fairly by all mankind under the guidance of justice tempered with charity."…God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favoring anyone. [#171]
- The universal destination of goods requires a common effort to obtain for every person and for all peoples the conditions necessary for integral development, so that everyone can contribute to making a more humane world, "in which each individual can give and receive, and in which the progress of some will no longer be an obstacle to the development of others, nor a pretext for their enslavement." [#175]
- [T]he poor, the marginalized and in all cases those whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of particular concern." [The preferential option for the poor]…affects the life of each Christian inasmuch as he or she seeks to imitate the life of Christ, but it applies equally to our social responsibilities and hence to our manner of living, and to the logical decisions to be made concerning the ownership and use of goods.…This love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without health care and, above all, those without hope of a better future." [#182]
- The Church's love for the poor is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, by the poverty of Jesus, and by his attention to the poor. "When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice." [#184]
The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering:
Bringing Good News to a Broken
World
February 10-15, 2006 • Capitol Hilton, Washington, DC
Information and registration at https://www.yesevents.com/social/
Ecumenical Advocacy Days: Challenging Disparity:
The
promise of God, the Power of Solidarity
March 10-13, 2006 • Doubletree
Hotel Crystal City, Arlington, VA
Information and registration at http://www.advocacydays.org/
Your
comments and suggestions are always welcome.
How can the Justice and
Peace Office help you get involved?
T. Michael McNulty, SJ, editor
mmcnulty@cmsm.org
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8808 Cameron St., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301-588-4030
• Fax: 301-587-4575 • www.cmsm.org
