There are currently over 16 million children in the United States living in poverty. This is nearly 1/5 of the total population of children living in our country, which means 1 in 5 children in US are living in poverty and cannot afford basic needs such as food & shelter. These children are living in households with an average income below $23K for a family of four. It takes more than this much income to provide the basic expenses needed for food, water, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. Children are usually impacted the most from living in such extreme poverty. For example, they are less healthy, lack others in terms of intellectual development, and are more likely to not complete high school or receive a college education. As adults, these children usually continue to face the issue of poverty along with their families.
More than half of these poverty-stricken households have to face issues in receiving basic education. Illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes are prevalent in these homes. Because of rising housing costs, 1/6 of these families have experienced eviction, or a foreclosure of their homes. In fact, 93% of poor households struggle to cope with their increasing housing, utility, and education costs, and compromise on paying bills, just to buy food. In an average household struggling with poverty, adequate employment is hard to find due to lack of education, and the rarity of finding a full-time job.
Of all the issues that these families are faced with, food insecurity ranks at the top. Sadly, because of this food insecurity, health care, housing, and education are compromised to provide substantial food quantities to the children in such households. A lack in income results into dependency on some 200 food banks and 600,000 food pantries around the United States that help out households needing assistance to provide adequate food supply to their families. Because of the increase in poverty stricken households, food banks are serving almost 46.5 million people across the United States, which is 1/7 of the total population. Out of which, some 12 million are young children, and 7 million are seniors.
Sadly, as poverty rates have increased by nearly five percent since 2007, so have the cuts in some government sponsored programs. Just to take an example, the $8.6 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that have been cut in the legislation known as the 2014 Farm Bill. This legislation cuts SNAP benefits, such as food stamps that are given to more than 45 million people living in poverty. These cuts affect about 800,000 – 900,000 households (or approximately 4% of people who rely on food stamps). Some argue that the cuts close a loophole known as “heat and eat” where some of the states leverage their Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program assistance, or LIHEAP assistance to provide SNAP benefits to low-income families. Advocates of these cuts say that those families receive more SNAP benefits than they should. Others argue that this loophole is necessary to provide the poor families much needed benefits.
Whatever the reasons may be; whether it is insufficient government funding, economy, lack of basic education or lack of enough opportunities for people at the bottom resulting in growing income inequalities, the fact is that a very significant percentage of the total population of the most powerful nation on the face of earth lives under alarming poverty where the poor (especially children) & destitute do not have access to the very ‘Basic Necessities’ of life. Necessities that most of us, if not all, take for granted.
As we make new resolutions for ourselves & hope our wishes come true, we must not forget the ones that are downtrodden. We must remember that there are many around us in despair who also have ‘Small Aspirations’ they hope will be fulfilled someday.
– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)
(To leave comments, please click on the title at the top)
