Find the most recent poverty data for your Congressional District
By the Center for American Progress’ Alexandra Cawthorne
Women in America are more likely to be poor than men. Over half of the 37 million Americans living in poverty today are women. And women in America are further behind than women in other countries—the gap in poverty rates between men and women is wider in America than anywhere else in the Western world. Read more »
The National Center for Children in Poverty has released a new report on the staggering numbers of American children growing up in low-income households, offering facts, analysis, and solutions.
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Many of you took action and submitted questions to Tom Brokaw for the town hall debate, asking both presidential candidates what they plan to do about poverty.
Here are some of the questions you sent in:
The biggest news in the final days of this Congress was the financial crisis and the bailout legislation attempting to respond to it.
We should take note of some items particularly important to low- and moderate-income people, and to all working Americans.
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Next Tuesday, October 7, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will meet at Belmont University to answer questions from around the country in a town hall debate. Moderator Tom Brokaw will be accepting questions from the public through Thursday, October 2. This will be the only opportunity for the candidates to address the importance of fighting poverty in a public forum. Read more »
Addressing poverty and economic security takes on greater urgency in the new economy. Employment for millions is now less secure than at any point in the post-World War II era. Jobs are increasingly unlikely to provide health care coverage and guaranteed pensions. The typical U.S. worker will change jobs numerous times over his or her working years and must adapt to rapid technological change. One quarter of all jobs in the U.S. economy do not pay enough to support a family of four above the poverty line. It is in our nation’s interest that those jobs be filled and that employment rates be high. It is not in our nation’s interest that people working in these jobs be confined to poverty. Read more »
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne spoke at the 2008 Paul Offner Lecture at the Urban Institute. Dionne’s talk offered insights into the problem of poverty in America, as well as a number of solutions that reflect Half in Ten’s priorities, and how this all ties in to both the election and a new administration.
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By Center for American Progress visiting fellow Kate Bell:
The Joint Economic Committee held a hearing yesterday in front of a packed audience on how an economic stimulus package can be constructed so that poor and middle-income families will get the help they need.
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Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. This year, Blog Action Day will be focused on poverty. Over 15,000 bloggers participated in 2007 and 4,673 blogs have already signed up to participate this year.
Find out more about the event, and how to get involved here.
Lisa Donner, the Executive Director of Half in Ten, contributes to Politico’s “Dear 44: Ideas for the Next President” series:
What should the 44th president do about poverty in our great nation? He should make cutting poverty a clear goal of his administration and prioritize a set of initiatives that will make the most significant contributions to meeting it. We can — and should — cut poverty in half in the next 10 years.
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