Pop Quiz
OK, everybody, it’s time for a pop quiz.
1. How many people in the United States live below the official poverty line?
A. one in 32 (9 million)
B. one in 25 (11.5 million)
C. one in 15 (19 million)
D. one in 8 (36 million)
2. What was the poverty rate in Floyd County, Indiana in 2005?
A. 10.5% B. 7%
C. 12.6% D. 15.3%
3. How many people in the United States will experience food insecurity this year?
A. 4.1 million (one in 70)
B. 9.5 million (one in 30)
C. 23.8 million (one in 12)
D. 36.3 million (one in 8 )
4. How much would a person have to earn in a 40-hour work week to afford the average fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment?
A. $12.68 per hour B. $15.37 per hour
C. $17.21 per hour D. $19.46 per hour
5. What percentage of children (age 0 – 17) in Clark County, Indiana are living in poverty?
A. 6.9% B. 9.3%
C. 12.4% D. 15.4%
President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty is far from over, folks. As the country’s economic situation worsens, more and more families are faced with decisions that they may have never had to face before. Representatives of the Salvation Army of Southern Indiana and Interfaith Community Council report that the numbers of people turning to them for assistance are higher than they’ve been in previous years. As more and more working families find it harder to make ends meet, I’m faced with a sobering reality – people sinking into poverty aren’t some faceless “them.” They’re looking more like me. How many of us are just a paycheck or two away from financial disaster? How easy would it be for an unexpected medical diagnosis or automobile accident to drain our savings? A lot of us are closer to the edge than we’d like to think.
So what can we do to help those that are sinking? First of all, we need to educate ourselves about the many interconnected issues facing those in poverty: a living wage, affordable housing, transportation, adequate and nutritious food, and safe & affordable child care, among others. Take steps to help however you can and take that extra step to become an advocate for change in our community. If you need help figuring out how to start, contact us here at Metro United Way and we’ll help you to get connected with others who are working to change things for the better. It takes all of us…let’s get started!
Answers:
1. D. Nearly 36 million people in the US live below the poverty line – 1 in 8 people, including more than 1 in 6 children (U.S. Census Bureau).
2. A. Floyd County ranks just below the Indiana state poverty rate of 12.2% (www.stats.indiana.edu).
3. D. In the course of a year, nearly 36.3 million people – one in every 8 people – experience “food insecurity,” the situation of having limited or uncertain access to enough safe, nutritious food for a healthy life, as measured by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. One in five of these households use food pantries.
4. B. The worker would have to earn $15.37 per hour. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition refers to this figure as the national housing wage. The median hourly wage in the U.S. is only about $14.00 per hour, and more than a quarter of the population earns less than $10.00.
. D. 14% of Clark County children are living in poverty, compared with 15.4% in Floyd County and 12.4% in Harrison County (www.kidscount.org).