TO THE EDITOR:
U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday reveals 46.5 million poor people in America in 2012, including 16.1 million children, essentially unchanged from 2011. There are 2.75 million more children living in poverty today than there were in 2007.
At a time when large corporations are experiencing record high profits and the wealthiest Americans’ net worth has increased, poor children have not had any relief.
“It is disgraceful that more than one out of five children are poor in our rich nation. Income inequality was higher in 2012 than any time in the last hundred years in the United States, and it is children who suffer the most,” said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund.
And the younger children are, the poorer they are. Twenty-five percent of children under age 5, the years of greatest brain development, were poor in 2012.
Poverty stacks the odds against children. Research shows children growing up poor are less likely to succeed in school, to grow up healthy and more likely to be poor as adults.
With record numbers of families living in poverty, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a lifeline for millions of children and families. Almost half of SNAP recipients are children.
“Despite its proven success, SNAP remains a consistent target at budget-cutting time. It is incomprehensible and morally indefensible that this week the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would seriously harm many receiving SNAP, while they protect subsidies for rich farmers,” Edelman said.
“This is just one of a recent series of efforts on Capitol Hill to shred the safety net that poor children and families desperately need to survive and thrive. Fifty-seven thousand children have been cut from Head Start and Early Head Start because of the mindless sequester.
