The numbers improve, but is U.S. poverty really down? Catholic Charities USA says we can do better

Social justice news
August 28, 2007

The numbers improve, but is U.S. poverty really down?
Catholic Charities USA says we can do better
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the U.S. poverty rate fell for the first time this decade but the bureau also reported that more people are living without health insurance and that the bulk of the nation's poor remain its children

According to data released on August 28, the national median income, now $48,200, rose for the second straight year as the United States entered an economic slowdown. That improvement, however, mainly occurred because more because more Americans within each household held jobs or assumed additional work.

The national poverty rate in 2006 was down to 12.3 percent from 12.6 percent a year earlier, the bureau's report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States said. Children represent 35 percent of those living in poverty and make up a fourth of the total U.S. population.

Some 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent of the population, lived below the poverty line, defined as having an annual income of about $10,000 for an individual or $20,000 for a family of four.

Rev. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, commented: "Any time the poverty rate decreases, we should celebrate. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that in one of the world's wealthiest nations, 36.5 million people living in poverty, including 12.8 million children, continue to struggle to make ends meet.

"Catholic Charities agencies serve more than 7.4 million people each year, giving us first-hand experience in dealing with the personal tragedy of poverty. That's why Catholic Charities USA launched its Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America last January to cut the poverty rate in half by 2020."

Snyder said, "Catholic Charities USA is extremely troubled that the number of uninsured, including children, continues to increase. We firmly believe that there is no excuse for any child in our nation to go without access to health care, which is critically important to the well-being and development of all children.

"When Congress returns from its August recess, it is critical that both the House and Senate take real steps to help those living in poverty. It's time for Congress to get to work and find the political will needed to make poverty a top agenda item and help the most vulnerable in our nation," Snyder said.

"We call on Congress to strengthen State Children's Health Insurance Program to cover more children from low-income families before this successful program expires at the end of September. It's also important for Congress to strengthen federal nutrition programs, including passing a Farm Bill that makes the application process easier, increases food stamp benefit amounts, improves outreach, and expands eligibility and eliminates asset limits. In addition, Congress must continue and improve Head Start and strengthen and adequately fund needed affordable housing programs.

"We must renew our commitment to help millions of Americans still living in poverty and the millions who are lacking vital health insurance. This is about who we are as a nation, and we simply must do better."

Bishops’ Annual Labor Day Statement Stresses Catholic Teaching On Work; Urges Restart Of Immigration Debate
WASHINGTON (August 27, 2007)—Labor Day “is a time to recommit in our own small ways – to our own work, to treat others justly, and to defend the lives, dignity, and rights of workers, especially the most vulnerable,” according to “Labor Day 2007: A Time to Remember; A Time to Recommit,” the annual Labor Day statement from the U.S. bishops.

The statement , dated September 3, was issued by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, NY, chairman of the U.S. bishops Domestic Policy Committee.

DiMarzio also called for a renewed and much different immigration debate, declaring “at its core immigration is about workers who come to our land to try to secure better lives for themselves and their families by their labor.”

In recent months, “this vital national immigration discussion polarized our people, paralyzed the Congress, and failed our nation,” DiMarzio said. “We have to find a way to re-start the discussion, to re-engage the hard issues, to search for practical and realistic solutions.”

A renewed immigration discussion needs to include, he said, “reality, civility, morality, and consistency.” Too often reality is looked at through our own biases, he said. He listed among the “inescapable facts” that “[t]he immigration status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. The ‘system’ is broken. We need far-reaching and comprehensive reform.”

He called for civil dialogue. “Anger is no substitute for wisdom, attacks are no substitute for dialogue, and feeding fears will not help us find solutions. Respect for different points of view is a mark of civil society,” he said. “Immigration issues should not be used for partisan advantage, a ratings boost, or a fundraising tactic.”

He urged that “fundamental moral principles” guide immigration reform. “Fundamental rights to work, decent wages, safe working conditions, to have a voice in decisions, and the freedom to choose to join a union do not depend on where you were born or when you came to our nation,” he said. “Human dignity and human rights are not commodities to be allocated according to where you come from, when you got here, or what documents you possess.”

DiMarzio stressed the need for consistency. “The failure of national immigration reform has generated a deluge of local and state proposals, controversies, and disputes. Immigration policy should not depend on where in the United States you work or live,” he said. “A patchwork of conflicting policies, punitive measures, and local disputes cannot fix a broken federal system, but they can further enflame the divisions that make real progress more difficult.”

Bishop DiMarzio did see hope in recent months in the landmark agreement between Florida immigrant farmworkers and major corporations that led businesses to “promise a ‘penny a pound’ more for Florida tomatoes and a new code of conduct in the fields. This sign of hope is, first and foremost, the achievement of the Coalition and the workers themselves.”

When no one gave immigrant farm workers much of a chance, “they stood up for their own lives, dignity, and rights,” he said. The resulting agreement “is also the result of good judgment and corporate social responsibility by the companies who eventually responded to the workers and working conditions by reaching these ground-breaking agreements.”

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