New census figures released this week show that the number of Americans living in poverty continues to grow. Children and racial minorities have fared the worst. Another 1.3 million Americans joined the ranks of the poor in 2003. The increase in poverty is a direct result of the Bush Administration’s economic policies. The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports:
2003 marked the third straight year that living standards have deteriorated, with poverty increasing, the number of uninsured climbing, and the income of the typical household stagnating. The income of the typical, middle-class household is $1,535 below where it was three years earlier, while 4.3 million more Americans were poor than in 2000, and 5.2 million fewer people had health insurance, producing the largest number of uninsured on record, with the data going back to 1987. Further, by some indicators, gaps between the most well-off and other Americans — already at exceptionally wide levels — became still larger in 2003.The federal government’s response to these adverse developments has been misdirected. As recent studies indicate, the nation has squandered huge amounts of resources on poorly designed tax cuts that greatly increased budget deficits and further widened gaps between the most well-off and everyone else, and did so without much pay-off in terms of jobs. These policies are burdening further generations with large amounts of debt and starving the budget of resources that could be used to address such problems as the growing health insurance crisis.
Click here to read their full statement.
Poverty is a moral issue and should be of central concern to Christians. Neither political party has done as much as possible to fight poverty. Not since Lyndon Johnson has a president made poverty the center piece of a domestic agenda. Only Senator John Edwards developed a meaningful plan to fight poverty during the presidential primaries.
A statement issued by the United Church of Christ speaks to our calling to be advocates for economic justice:
As members of the United Church of Christ, we are called to be compassionate and generous people. Our concern for the poor has rightly led us to initiate church-based soup kitchens, ecumenical feeding programs, and community food banks. Each year, we donate tons of canned goods and designate portions of our church budgets for outreach efforts. But, our commitment to charity should not preclude our witness for justice. As people of faith, we must urge our government to do more to alleviate hunger and poverty.
Visit the National Coalition for the Homeless and the Children's Defense Fund to learn how you can help.
