Poverty and Hunger in America

According to census figures of 2009, One out of Seven Americans are now living in poverty. This is the highest level since the 1960s. In fact one out of every five children in America are now living in poverty. The numbers of 2009 show that 15% of Americans are now living in poverty.

That rate would indicate that some 45 million people were living below the official poverty line in 2009. The official poverty level, an annual income of $22,000 for a family of four, grossly understates the income required for a decent life. The real number of people living in actual economic distress is much higher, Out of the 312,126,000 total population in America it is speculated that the number could be closer to 100 million Americans living at or below the poverty line.

Fourteen million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. The number of children living in poverty increased by 21 percent between 2000 and 2008. There are 2.5 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000.

The absolute standard, employed a specific dollar amount that a family of a particular size and composition must meet to be considered as living in poverty. The dollar levels, in fact, are considerably below the median income of similar families. For a family of one the poverty guidelines are set at $10,890 or less. For every family member added to a household the amount is increased by $3740. So a family with eight, their income of $37,630 or lower would be considered poverty.

Rather than the relative standards employed by other developed nations, the United States government annually estimates poverty using an economic or absolute standard. The American measurement is focused on determining when a person or family does not have enough money for food, shelter, and other necessities. The American approach is more like the methodologies used by developing nations – and by the World Bank – instead of the approach employed by the other advanced economies of the world. The federal government wants to keep the annual count of Americans living in poverty as low as possible. A reasonable conclusion is not only that the income standard is conservative, but, in fact, artificially low, resulting in a serious underestimation of poverty in America. Among the prosperous nations of the world, America is the only nation that does not adjust its poverty measures to incorporate raising standards of living.

Additional flaws in the official measure of poverty:

1.Lack of Regional Cost Adjustments

2.Failure to Include Taxes and the Value of In-Kind Benefits

3.Employee Versus Unemployed Families

4.Variations in Health Care Cost

5.Family Size Adjustments

6.Food Budget Based

7.The Missing Poor

8.The Severity of Poverty

Why Is the Standard so Flawed?

Why would the federal government use such an obviously flawed methodology to estimate yearly poverty rates? The answer is somewhat complex. The official measure was first formulated in the mid-1960s and then backdated to 1959. The original poverty standard was a flat rate of $3000 in yearly income for any family, regardless of size, composition, or geographic location. Unfortunately, the Bureau of budget adopted this new standard but then decided against improving it because it was understood that doing so would produce a higher poverty count, increase program eligibility, and raise annual cost.

Just like everything in our political arena, stalemates between critics usually end up being pushed aside until it's too late. Instead of being proactive our elected officials operate in the reactive mode. The 1960s standard remains the official measurement of American poverty.

Does the fact that the United States uses an absolute measure of poverty mean that the American poor resemble the poor of the Third World? No, the American poor are generally not homeless, and the vast majority is not on the verge of starvation. Most poor families, in fact, report that they have enough to eat. Yet, food insecurity and actual hunger exist in many households.

Transformations in our economic structure such as the shift from manufacturing employment to service-sector employment; the deinstitutionalization of people with mental illnesses into community settings, changes in immigration patterns, illegal immigrants (which our government refuses to take control of), and skyrocketing rates of incarceration.

Poverty is not a decree of nature, nor is it a total result of laziness on the poor. It is due to a failure of political will (Political Will; in plain English, when an advocate group is passionate about an issue they pressure their politicians into voting in their favor). Corrupted systems (self-serving politicians not doing the people's business but enriching themselves at our expense), and abandonment of the government (For the last few decades, it all seemed so simple for the USA: We'll spend other people's money, and when we run out, we'll just borrow from yet more people. It worked for a while... until all those "other people" (foreign central banks) got sick of buying U.S. debt)!

The Agriculture Department's measurement for hunger is "food insecurity," which it defines as "lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources."

Economic Research Services survey of 2009 showed that 14.7% of American families were food insecure at some point during the year. Nearly 16 percent of households with children were food insecure sometime during the year, including 8.3 percent in which children were food insecure and 0.8 percent in which one or more children experienced very low food security—the most severe food-insecure condition measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since the early 1960s. In 2009, Federal food and nutrition assistance programs provided benefits to four out of five low-income, food-insecure households with children.

Government-affiliated food banks and other community and faith-based food pantries and soup kitchens served more than 37 million Americans, according to Feeding America's 2010 hunger study. This figure is up 46% from 2006. This is a record number of Americans who are voluntarily seeking emergency food assistance.

Food stamps, officially titled the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are often used by out-of-work breadwinners, for whom they can be a lifeline after unemployment benefits run out. However, food stamps are actually designed to help working families that aren't bringing home enough food to feed all their members. In this context, the program's size reflects not only unemployment but also underemployment -- the workers whose jobs don't pay enough to put food on the table. In its most recent report on the program, the Department of Agriculture reported that the number of Americans who rely on food stamps rose to a record-breaking 42.4 million people in August 2010. That's a 17% increase from August 2009 and a 58.5% increase from August 2007.

While the standard of living in America continues to dwindle our government is extremely busy with providing funding to other nations.

I agree that it is vitally important for America to protect its interest and the interest of its allies around the world. However, our government continues to neglect its people here in America! As you've seen throughout this article, the poverty and hunger of Americans continues to increase at an alarming rate.

I would say that I'm surprised by our government still using formulas created in 1960 to measure the poverty and hunger of the American people. However, nothing surprises me with the government that we have and the power that we've allowed them to gain!

As long as we continue to let our elected officials run our country like an open-ended book these numbers will continue to increase!

Is our elected officials running our country or is the World Bank now in control of America?

I will show you some examples of our governments inability to say no to the world and yes to its people.

Is rebuilding Egypt a vital asset to America and its people? Our government seems to think so. I am going to list all of the open grants our USAID organization has set up to support Egypt and its rebuilding process.

OMEP Water Grants , The estimated total program funding is $11 million.

This program will foster linkage between government officials and water managers and the MENA region and members of MENA NWC. Support training and applied research and other activities to improve water policy decisions and management effectiveness in the MENA region. Increase Regional Information Sharing Increase Regional Collaboration. Support the development of MENA NWC

Yemen Responsive Governance Project , The estimated total program funding is $43million.

RGP will be a key part of the Mission’s implementation program under the 2010-2012 USAID/Yemen Strategy. RGP is intended to facilitate more equitable socio-economic development by strengthening public policies and institutions that will contribute to mitigating the drivers of instability in Yemen.

Community Livelihood Project (CLP) , The estimated total program funding is $125 million.

This project is intended to mitigate the drivers of instability in some of Yemen’s most difficult areas through the facilitation and implementation of quality government service delivery, job creation, responsive local governance, and active civic participation. Rapidly responding to community-based initiatives to demonstrate USAID’s and the Government of Yemen’s commitment to underserved communities will be a hallmark of this project.

Regional NGO/Media Networks Program , The estimated total program funding is $1 million.

For the purposes of this program, the MENA region is defined as those locations where USAID programs operate. This currently includes Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, West Bank/Gaza, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq.

Regional Development Research Partnership Program , The estimated total program funding is $7.5 million.

Building on USAID/Washington’s Knowledge Services Center, including the Development Experience Clearinghouse and research assistance, the program will establish a regional hub for the sharing of development expertise and accessing regional research and analytical networks.

University Scholarship Assistance Program II (USAP-II) , The estimated total program funding is $18.4 million.

This Annual Program Statement (APS) is the method by which USAID/Lebanon supports the Higher Education Scholarship Program conducted under the authority of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, as amended. Through this APS, USAID/Lebanon intends to support full scholarship assistance to economically disadvantaged public school students in Lebanon to attend universities registered with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education

Egyptian Transition Support , The estimated total program funding is $65 million.

These are the five areas identified by Egyptians as needing more progress in democratic development. Civic engineering/Civic awareness, Elections and Political Process, Access to Justice/Human Rights, Transparency and Accountability, Civic Participation.

Egyptian Economic Support , The estimated total program funding is $100 million.

Support programs of Egyptian, U.S., and international organizations which respond directly to Egyptian-identified needs in the areas of job creation, poverty alleviation and economic development.

Please keep in mind that these eight are only the grants for Egypt. There are a total of 150+ grants listed in the grants.gov website under the Agency for International Development.

The White House estimates that spending on State Department programs will exceed $49 billion this year and $56 billion in 2011. Top recipients of American foreign aid include Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, Haiti, Egypt, and Iraq. For more information on foreign aid spending, I encourage you to view President Obama's Department of State and Other International Programs budget request for fiscal year 2011, which you can access here. If you are interested in other parts of the President's budget request, you can view them here.

I have been conversing with Congressman Paul Ryan regarding America's USAID foreign funding. It seems our commitment to rebuild the world is more important than rebuilding America!

As I told Congressman Ryan, everyone needs to quit pointing their finger at each other and get the American people back in control of this country. There are too many issues that our government dances around because of public sensitivity. Just to list a few, illegal immigration, Christianity in our schools, being one nation under God, and the right to bear arms. Our elected officials dance around sensitive issues because they're afraid of losing their seats. This is why the American people need to be voting on every issue that is brought before the Senate and the House!