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THE HOMELESS, THE HUNGRY, AND THE WORKING POOR — by Catherine Morgan
We have a growing crisis in America today, and it is our own countries blatant neglect of the homeless, the hungry, and the working poor. It was recently reported that there are 744,000 people that are homeless in the United States today. Even worse, over 40% of the homeless are families. Reuters reported that more Americans went homeless and hungry in 2006 than the year before and that children made up almost one quarter of those in emergency shelters.
Children and families are the new faces of the homeless and hungry in America, and it seems to me that most Americans, as well as the government would just like to turn a blind-eye to this growing crisis. Why is that? We are the richest and most powerful country in the world, surely we can help are own citizens? We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq alone, it seems shameful that we don’t even spend a fraction of that amount on helping the most needy in our own county.
Many people seem to take the attitude of….We shouldn’t give “hand-outs” to the poor, they just need to work harder….They wouldn’t be poor if they just worked harder. Contrary to popular belief, the poor don’t want to be poor. The truth is, that many of the poor in our country are part of the growing number of “working poor”, they work very hard, very long, and still don’t have enough money to feed their families. So, if how hard a person works really was a determining factor of whether a person would be rich or poor, many of the rich people in this country would suddenly find themselves poor, and the currently poor would be basking in the glory of their new-found wealth. Many American citizens work hard and get very far in life, and many others work hard and get nowhere in life…..that’s just the sad reality. Most of the working poor in our country actually work forty or more hours a week at two, three, or even four different jobs. I assure you, these people work very hard.
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Some other facts you might be interested to know:
U.S. Census Bureau, In 2004, the most recent data available, 17.6 million people lived in a working-poor household. This translates into 8.2% of all American families lived below the poverty level even though there was a family member that worked.
A report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that in 2002 more than 25% of working American families were classified as low-income, with incomes at 200% of the federal poverty level. This translates into more than 9.2 million families.
I certainly do not claim to have the answers to solve this growing crisis in our country. However, I do think that most of us need to change our attitudes toward the poor and the homeless. A little bit of compassion, and a little bit of empathy, can go a long way. (Jewel has a great song that says: In the end….only kindness matters). Think about this before you pass judgment on others, because it is so true….in the end, only kindness matters.
We will never be able to eliminate poverty in our country. But, we can try. We can also choose to be more kind, more compassionate, and more generous to the people in our country that are less fortunate than ourselves.
ALSO SEE: HAS THE WORLD LOST IT’S EMPATHY
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