US child poverty on the rise—statistics mask depth of crisis (WSWS)

[undeterred]

By Naomi Sheehan Groce
1 June 2005

The child poverty rate in the US has steadily risen every year from 2000, according to several recent reports and press releases from public policy institutes and government agencies. Child Poverty in Rich Countries, 2005, a report by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, provides a comparative assessment of the conditions facing poor children in industrialized nations, primarily in Europe but also including the US. The study begins with this assertion: “Protecting children from the sharpest edges of poverty during their years of growth and formation is both the mark of a civilized society and a means of addressing some of the evident problems that affect the quality of life in the economically developed nations.” By this standard, the US has the dishonor of being one of the most uncivilized of the major industrialized countries.

While Denmark and Finland led the 26 participating OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries with child poverty rates below 3 percent last year, Mexico and the United States were at the other end of the spectrum, both with child poverty rates of more than 20 percent. The current rate for the US, 21.9 percent, is greater than the still comparatively high figure of 17 percent reported by the US Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. The discrepancy is due to qualitative differences in definitions and measures of poverty.

The UNICEF report notes that the US, in compiling federal data on the poor, has generally favored an “absolute” poverty line defined as a level of consumption, “the ability to purchase a defined quantity of goods and services.” Most other OECD members, on the other hand, generally draw poverty lines based upon median national incomes, or the relative wealth and lifestyles of their communities. A child is considered poor by this measure if the income available to that child is less than half of the median income available to a child in a given country. It is the preferred definition of poverty by public aid programs and the measure used by UNICEF.

By the absolute measurement, child poverty in the US is lower today than a decade ago. However, from 2001 to 2002, a significant rise occurred that placed nearly half a million more children in poverty. From 2002 to 2003, the rate increased again, from 16.7 to 17.6 percent, even during what has been characterized as a period of economic recovery following recession. More significantly, children living in extreme poverty, or less than half of the poverty line, grew by 11.5 percent in 2002, signaling the collapse of social protective measures for the nation’s poorest citizens. Federal statistics indicate that the percentage of children in poverty is still lower overall than the peak of 22 percent in 1993, when nearly 8.4 million families lived below the poverty line.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jun2005/pove-j01.shtml

[dogday]

1. Difference between Democratic and Republicans- Our Values

are that no child go to bed hungry. Republicans values are, sorry you are on your own. Don't bother us in our big houses and big cars. We don't want to see humanity hurting, we don't want to know about it....

[lady lib]

2. Well they're a little busy protecting the blastocysts from

gay marriage...or something like that.

Here's my question: Why can't the Democratic leadership manage to take advantage of this kind of information? The Republicans have created tons of ammo and the Dems don't seem to know how to use it. (And no, I don't want to hear about how the media is against them. Of course the media deck is now stacked against them. So it's up to the Democratic leadership to accept that reality and find a way to get their message out anyway. They also need to be courting their base BETWEEN elections - like the Republicans do - so they don't feel taken for granted.)

[undeterred]

3. The democrats are partially responsible for the declining standard

according to the article, which points out Clinton dismantling ADFC.
I think they're sucked in by the cooked statistics. There is no one in America who has less of a voice than poor children.

[applegrove]

4. Meanwhile the rich get tax cuts. How long it have to go before

someone stops them?

:grr: