Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) addressed the closing vigil of Fighting Poverty with Faith: a Week of Action, urging a renewed commitment to fight poverty:

“The faith community has always played the critical role of being the nation’s moral compass on tending to the least of these. It is important and timely that we gather here during this historic moment in our history, to once again focus the nation’s attention on the quiet suffering of the millions of American families who live in poverty.

Read more »

A prayer vigil on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. will close out “Fighting Poverty with Faith: a Week of Action,” on Tuesday, September 16 at 10 am. This will serve as a both a unifying moment of prayer and call to action to continue the work that was done during the week. The vigil will be led by Rabbi Steve Gutow, Rev. Larry Synder, and Rev. Jim Wallis, and will include members of Congress, faith leaders from across the country, and citizens committed to the goal of cutting poverty in America.

More information about the vigil, and the Week of Action, can be found here.

Poverty violates our fundamental principles as a democratic nation and as ethically conscious individuals. American democracy is built on a simple proposition, declared in our founding documents and developed over centuries of trial and error: All Americans should have the opportunity to turn their aspirations into a meaningful and materially satisfactory life. Read more »

“Fighting Poverty with Faith,” is a weeklong effort to highlight the problem of poverty and how to solve it, put together by over 20 national faith-based organizations. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) will begin the week with an interactive call on Tuesday, September 9. The following Week of Action will feature community service projects, town hall meetings, religious services, briefings, summits, and gatherings.

More information, including a calendar of events, can be found here.

On August 26, the Census Bureau released new data on poverty and health insurance coverage for 2007. The statistics show that, despite economic growth over the past few years, the number of Americans living in poverty was greater in 2007 than in the recession year of 2001.
Read more »

In the global economy, the greatest potential for success turns on having an educated, healthy, adaptable workforce. It is in all of our interests that children grow up under conditions that prepare them for the economy of the future. But, an estimated eight percent of all children and 28 percent of African-American children spend at least 11 years of childhood in poverty.
Read more »

By the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights’ Jessica Agarwal

Poverty among children and immigrants in the United States significantly increased from 2006 to 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s annual report on income, earnings, and poverty, released on August 26.

Meanwhile, the overall poverty rate increased slightly, median income rose, and the number of people without health insurance declined by more than 1 million.
Read more »

Statement of Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, on new Census Bureau Data on Poverty

The new poverty data released today by the Census Bureau show that six years of economic growth did not lead to better times for the nation’s poor. In 2007, 12.5 percent of Americans were poor, up from 11.7 percent in the recession year of 2001.
Read more »

By the Center for American Progress’ Mark Greenberg and Half in Ten’s Lisa Donner

The U.S. Census Bureau today reported that 12.5 percent of Americans—one in eight—were living in poverty in 2007. The increase since 2006 was not statistically significant, but the figures show that six years after the 2001 recession ended, there were 5.7 million more poor Americans last year than in 2000, when the nation’s poverty rate was 11.3 percent. In light of the economic downturn this year, there is much reason to expect that the numbers for 2008 will be worse.
Read more »

Released in advance of today’s start of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the party platform devotes a section to the issue of poverty, stating that “working together, we can cut poverty in half within ten years.” The platform cites a number of Half in Ten policies, including an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, access to unions, and an increase in the minimum wage.