Get The Facts .... Poverty in America Who Lives in Poverty? Poverty line = $15,670/yr for a family of three or $18,850/yr for a family of four in 2004. 34.6 million people (12.1%) lived below the povery line in 2002. 12.1 million of them are children. People living below 50% of poverty ($9425/year for a family of 4) are the fastest growing group in poverty. One in nine Allegheny County residents (139,505 people) lived in poverty in 2000. One in five City of Pittsburgh (63,866 people) lived in poverty 2000. 10.4% of the elderly (3.6 million) lived in poverty in 2002. 13.3 million people in poverty in 2002 lived in the suburbs. Who Experiences Hunger? Hunger is the lack of access to sufficient food due to poverty or constrained resources. "At risk of hunger" or "food insecure" refers to the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources. In 1968, 14 million Americans were hungry. Today, 33 million people - including 13 million children - live in households that experience hunger or risk of hunger. Approximately 1 out of every 10 Pennsylvanians (450,000 families) is at risk of hunger, a 12% increase from 2001 Who Needs Healthcare? Over 41 million Americans have no health care insurance. Nearly one third of people living in poverty lack health insurance. More than 1 million people could receive health insurance for the cost taxpayers in PA will pay for the war in Iraq ($5.8 billion). Why Do WE Need Living Wages? Living wages would allow a person to pay for housing, food, transportation and other expenses without sacrificing one. About 42% of homeless people are employed. 46% of jobs with the most growth between 1994 and 2005 pay less than $16,000 a year. These jobs will not lift families out of poverty. A person must work 59 hours/week at minimum wage to reach the poverty level for family of three. Many jobs don't pay enough to lift families out of poverty. The U.S. has lost 2.7 million jobs since 2000. Families with incomes under $16,000 pay an average of 11.4% of their income in total taxes while those with income over $301,000 pay just 3.5% of their income in total taxes. Since March 2001, PA has lost nearly 120,000 manufacturing jobs; more than half of these since November 2001. Households with incomes of $1 million or more received an average $113,000 from federal tax cuts. 49% of Pennsylvanians received under $100. Who Needs Affordable Housing? "Affordable housing" is defined as housing that costs less than 30% of a household's total income. § 28 million Americans spend more than 30 percent of their limited incomes on housing. 4.8 million low to moderate income working families spent more than ½ of their income on housing in 2001. To afford a two-bedroom home at Pittsburgh Fair Market Rent ($615/ month), a worker has to earn $12.81/ hour, more than double the federal minimum wage of $5.15. How Do Federal Assistance Programs Help? The government's responsibility is to provide for those who can't provide for themselves. Government programs like Food Stamps, WIC and School Meals are the first line of defense for people in need. Food assistance programs served 1 in 5 Americans at some point in 2002. In 2003, over 21 million people participated in the Food Stamp Program up 2 million from the year before. Average monthly benefits per person were $83.92. Spending on cash assistance or "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" (TANF) is less than 1% of the total federal budget. Only 60-70% of people eligible for food stamps actually receive them. $403/ month was the maximum PA TANF cash benefits for a family of three in 2003. Income levels of former welfare recipients have not increased over five years. Most of the employment they find pays at or below the federal poverty level. How Do Food Banks and Pantries Help? When government programs are inadequate, private charities are forced to pick up some of the slack. America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, served 23.3 million people in 2001, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. 4.3 million households (8 million adults and 4.5 million kids) got food from a pantry during a typical month in 2001. 42% experienced hunger despite the help. 45% visited a food pantry more than once a month. 2/3 of pantries limit visits to once a month or less because of limited resources. Many pantries rely on donated foods and volunteers. How Can I Help? Join Just Harvest today. Call 412-431-8960 to find out how. Contact your Congressperson and urge them to make federal assistance programs more accessible to poor people. Compiled by the Just Harvest Education Fund April 2004 Sources: Bread for the World Institute, Citizens Budget Campaign of W.PA, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, HUD USER, National Coalition for the Homeless, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Priorities Project, Pennsylvania Hunger Action, Urban Institute, U.S. Bureau of the Census 2002, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Center on Hunger and Poverty. Click HERE to return to the About Hunger and Poverty Page