Research

Leo Hindery Jr wrote an excellent column about “America’s Dirty Little Secret: Who’s Really Poor in America?” that contained some amazing and disturbing statistics.

At least 50 million people are ill-fed — up from 37 million just a year ago — including 17 million children. Hunger in America is now at an all-time high, and there are currently entire national geographic regions — the very large 15-state ‘South’ being one of them — where more than half of all public school students are poor and ill-fed.

30% of the nation’s 50 million homeowners own a home whose value is below its mortgage balance, and this number could rise to an almost unbelievable 50% by year-end 2011. It would cost about $745 billion, more than the size of the original 2008 bank bailout, to restore these borrowers to the point where they were breaking even, which there is no obvious political will to find right now.

Despite the truly dismal ‘real unemployment’ figures with which most everyone now agrees — a staggering 30 million workers and 19% of the labor force — very little attention is being paid to the particularly adverse effects the recession is having on people of color, recent immigrants, and out-of school youth. And almost no one is acknowledging the sad reality that even the nation’s 130 million full-time workers have had an average economic loss of 15% just since December 2007 — an average effective work week of 34 hours rather than 40 — which means that the number of unemployed workers, measured economically, is actually as high as 50 million.

The overwhelming problem today for most workers isn’t this recession, as horrible as it is — it’s the fact that for every earned income level except the top 10%, average household income hasn’t changed a bit for 10 years, and that for the bottom 60% of wage earners it hasn’t changed for more than 20 years. Through economic expansions and recessions — and bull and bear markets — alike, 90% of workers in America have been standing still earnings-wise.

And 100 million people, fully one-third of the entire U.S. population, are at or below “200% of the federal poverty line of $21,834 for a family of four”, which is a needs-measure made lame by the fact that no family of four can actually comfortably live on such a low annual income.

Nothing better illustrates the need for a strong response from Washington DC that we are currently not seeing. The Senate passed a small jobs bill yesterday that does little to address these major structural problems in the United States economy. The next steps must be extension of unemployment insurance, COBRA, and robust state aid to prevent devastating cuts in Medicaid, education, and child protection, among many other things. If America is to compete over the next 50 years in this cutthroat global economy, while maintaining its commitment to Social Security and Medicare, these structural problems must be addressed in a way far differently than what is currently being proposed at the federal and state level.

Disgraceful:

KABUL (AFP) – Children are the biggest victims of the war in Afghanistan, with more than 1,050 people under 18 years old killed last year alone, according to an Afghan human rights watchdog.

Taliban-linked militants caused around 64 percent of all violent child deaths last year, the Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM) said in a report.

Children were also press-ganged, sexually exploited, deprived of health and education, and illegally detained by all sides in a war that is dragging into its ninth year since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime.

“At least three children were killed in war-related incidents every day in 2009 and many others suffered in diverse but mostly unreported ways,” ARM director Ajmal Samadi said.

Children died in suicide attacks and roadside bombings — at the crux of the Taliban’s arsenal against US, NATO and Afghan troops fighting the increasingly virulent insurgency as it spreads across the impoverished country.

The Taliban “reportedly caused more harm and intentionally abused more children for illegal purposes than pro-government Afghan and international forces,” the report said.

Click here to read the whole story

In  an amazing survey by a group called Share Our Strength, 63 percent of teachers report buying food for the classroom each month with their own money.

You can check out the full Teachers report and learn more surprising facts about hungry kids and the teachers trying to help them at the Share Our Strength site.

Share Our Strength also interviewed two teachers in New York City about their personal experiences with students who have come to depend on them for enough food to get them through the day. As you and your family sit down to dinner this Thanksgiving, remember the plight of millions of children, victims of the economic recession they did nothing to create or sustain, and do something this holiday season, volunteer or give to a charitable cause, to give them something to be thankful for.

Do the members of Congress who voted against health reform do so because there are fewer uninsured children and adults in their districts? NO. There are just as many uninsured children and adults under 65 living in districts who voted “nay” on the Affordable Health Care for America Act as there are living in districts represented by a member who voted “yea”.

The US Census American Community Survey, for the first time, put out estimates of the number of uninsured children and adults by congressional district. As many uninsured children reside in districts of those who voted “nay” as live in districts of those who say “yea”.

When looking at adults 18-64, only a slightly higher percentage of uninsured adults live in districts represented by someone who voted “yea” on reform.

In all, 17.3% of those under 65 and who live in districts represented by a member of Congress who voted “yea” on reform are uninsured.

16.8% of those under 65 and who live in districts represented by a member of Congress who voted “nay” on reform are uninsured.

Kids without coverage are more apt to die while hospitalized

An estimated 17,000 children in the United States might have died unnecessarily over nearly two decades because they didn’t have health insurance, according to a report from researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore.

They found that kids who lacked health insurance were 60 percent more likely to die in the hospital than were kids who had insurance. After adjusting for such differences as race and gender, uninsured kids were still 37.8 percent more likely to die than kids with insurance coverage.

The article was published online Oct. 30 in the Journal of Public Health.

Using records from two large databases, lead author Dr. Fizan Abdullah, Chang and colleagues examined more than 23 million hospitalizations of people younger than 18.

Over an 18-year period though 2005, 117 million children were hospitalized. Nearly 6 million kids were uninsured at the time of admission. In all, 38,649 children died while hospitalized.

Uninsured kids were 1.6 times more likely to die than children who had insurance.

The US Congress is debating comprehensive health care reform right now. Universal coverage for children should be a central part of it. It is uncertain, though, whether children who currently receive coverage through the state children’s health insurance plan (S-CHIP) will receive the same quality of coverage in the new system. Now is the time to call your members of Congress and tell them to insure every child and make that coverage as affordable and comprehensive as it is for members of Congress. You can reach your Senators and House members by calling 202-224-3121.

A frequent refrain on cable TV and from certain politicians in DC is that “spending is out of control” and the first thing we need to do is cut government spending.

“We’re going to restrain spending, we’re going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control.” – John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign.

However, when it comes to children, the federal government is investing less and less in them. According to Children’s Budget 2009 by First Focus, a nonpartisan child advocacy group:

• For the past five years, less than one nickel out of every new, real non-defense dollar spent by the federal government has gone to children and children’s programs.
• Children’s spending makes up less than ten percent of the entire non-defense budget.
• The overall share of federal, non-defense spending going to children’s programs has dropped by twelve percent over the past five years.
• Real discretionary spending on children has declined by one percent since 2005, while at the same time all other non-defense discretionary spending has increased by 4 percent.

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The full version of Children’s Budget 2009 available to download as a pdf. Click here.

Request a Free Copy of Children’s Budget 2009:
If you would like a hard copy of the publication, click here.

Fact Sheets:
- Children’s Budget 2009
– Children’s Budget Act

According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the economic stimulus passed earlier this year is keeping 6 million Americans out of poverty.

Although meant chiefly to help the broad economy, the stimulus plan Congress enacted earlier this year…had the important secondary effect of significantly ameliorating the recession’s impact on poverty.

This analysis, which comes one day before the Census Bureau will release updated poverty figures (for 2008), examines seven of the recovery act’s provisions — two improvements in unemployment insurance, three tax credits for working families, an increase in food stamps, and a one-time payment for retirees, veterans, and people with disabilities — and finds that they alone are preventing more than 6 million Americans from falling below the poverty line and are reducing the severity of poverty for 33 million more.  The analysis includes state-specific estimates for California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois.

Click here to read the full report. Vote Kids will have more information on poverty and uninsurance when the Census Bureau’s report comes out this week.

Texans Care for Children released a report last week showing the impact recessions have on poor children:

For children affected by the recession, the story is even darker. A report released yesterday by child and family advocacy group Texans Care For Children details the effects of the recession on Texas children living in poverty. The report cites a study by First Focus, whose researchers compared studies documenting the socioeconomic consequences on children living through past recessions in the United States and concluded that children who are poor during recessions historically have lifelong financial instability, more health problems and less education than those who avoided poverty.

Texas is one of the worst states for children. They have the highest rate of children without health insurance, and one in 20 Texas children are homeless. Based on the pattern of the 2001 recession, 250,000 children are estimated to be in poverty who were not at risk in 2007, according to the report.

To see how Texas’s two senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison voted on measures to improve conditions for Texas children in these difficult times, click on their name. Click here to see what these votes would mean for Texas children.

Some highlights from recent public opinion polling about the health care reform debate going on in Congress.

• Americans Have Strong, Widespread Support for House Health Care Reform Bill. In the latest ABC/Washington Post poll, Americans supported health care reform including an individual mandate, an employer mandate, an increase in taxes on those earning more than $280,000 a year, and a public option by a margin of 11 points, 54 to 43 percent.

Independents Back House Health Care Reform Bill. 58 percent support the overall framework.

Americans Hardest-Hit by Economic Crisis Most Likely to Support Health Care Reform. In parts of the country were unemployment is above 10 percent, support for health-care legislation was slightly higher than other regions.

• Americans Continue to Trust Obama over Republicans in Congress on Health Care Reform by Wide Margin. On health care reform, Americans trust Obama over Republicans in Congress by a margin of 20 points, 54 to 34 percent.

• Americans Trust Republicans in Congress Even Less Than Insurance and Pharmaceutical Companies to Make the Right Health Care Decisions. In an Associated Press/Ipsos poll, a total of 12 percent of Americans named health insurers or pharmaceutical companies as most trustworthy on health reform while fewer than one in 10 would trust Republicans in Congress.

• An Overwhelming Majority of Americans Want to Pass a Major Health Care Reform Bill This Year. 72 percent of Americans in a Gallup poll said that it is important to them that Congress pass a major health care reform bill this year, with 50 percent saying that it is “extremely” or “very” important to them personally.

• Strong Majorities Of Americans Consistently See President Obama As A Strong Leader Who Understands The Problems Of The American People And Has Brought Change To Washington. Seventy-one percent agree that Obama is a strong leader, 63 percent agreeing that Obama “understands the problems of people like you,” and 62 percent saying that he has already brought needed change to Washington.

• Americans Approve of Obama’s Priorities on Economy and Health Care. Majorities of Americans think that Obama is placing the right amount of priority on the economy and health care.

Many different polling outlets have released survey results showing broad support for health care reform and for a public insurance option that would control costs and bring coverage to the 50 million uninsured men, women, and children. A few highlights:

• 85 Percent Want Major Changes To Our Current System.  In the June 2009 New York Times poll, 85 percent of the public responded that it is necessary to make fundamental changes or else completely rebuild the US health care system.
• Americans Believe Health Care Reform Is an Immediate Priority. In the June 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation’s health care tracking poll, more than 60 percent of Americans have responded that “it is more important than ever to take on health care reform now” — rather than, “we cannot afford to take on health care reform right now” — consistently since October 2008.
• More Than Three-Quarters Support Plan that Would Give Americans Choice between Public and Private Insurance.  In the June 2009 Wall Street Journal Poll, when asked “How important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance,” 76 percent responded that it is “extremely important” or “quite important.”
• By Wide Margin, Americans Believe Government Would Do Better Job than Private Insurance Companies in Providing Coverage. In the June 2009 New York Times poll, Americans were asked whether government or private insurers would do a better job providing medical coverage. Americans strongly preferred government, by a 16-point margin — 50 to 34 percent.
• Six in Ten Americans Believe that Government Would do a Better Job than Private Insurers Holding Down Costs.  In the June 2009 New York Times poll, 59 percent of Americans said that government would do a better job than private insurers in holding down health care costs.
• More Americans Believe Public Plan Will Lower Costs and Increase Accessibility. In the June 2009 Wall Street Journal Poll, when given two options for describing the effect of the public plan, either “lower costs and provide health care for all Americans” or “Limit access to doctors and medical treatment options,” a plurality (47 percent) agreed that the public plan would lower costs and increase health care accessibility.
• Strong Majority Believe U.S. Would Be “Better Off” With Health Care Reform. In the June 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation’s health care tracking poll, a strong majority of Americans agreed that the country as a whole would be better off if Congress passed health care reform.
• Youth Support for Public Health Care Plan At Historic High. According to a May 2009 poll by the Center for American Progress and Glaser Progress Foundation, “Support for government health care plans among Millennial voters is at highs not seen before in any generation. In the 38-year history of the National Election Survey’s question assessing support for government health care plans over private health care plans, the level of support has never been higher than in 2008, when 61 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds supported a government health plan.”

Hard economic times are hitting the United States’ youngest citizens, threatening to roll back decades worth of gains in health, safety and education, according to a report released on Monday.

It suggests the country’s most severe recession in a generation, which has cost more than 5 million American jobs since it began in late 2007, is having a drastic impact on children.

The annual report, sponsored by the Foundation for Child Development, a private child advocacy group, measures economic, health, safety and social factors affecting children and teens.

Highlights from the report include:

• Based on current estimates, the report projects that the current recession will pare median annual family incomes back to $55,700 by 2010, down from $59,200 in 2007.
• Households run by single women will see their annual incomes fall to $23,000 in 2010, down from $24,950 in 2007.
• The steepest drop will be among single households headed by men, where median annual family income is expected to drop to $33,300 in 2010, from $38,100 in 2007.

These declines in family income will affect many other aspects of life for children in America.

• The percentage of children in poverty will rise to 21 percent in 2010, up from about 17 percent in 2006.
• The housing crisis will disrupt social relationships for children, as job losses cause families to uproot in search of work and less-costly housing. Many families are at greater risk of homelessness.
• Children’s health also suffer.
• Increases in an already growing obesity epidemic will continue as parents turn to cheap fast food to feed their families.

One bright spot, they said, is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which will at least ensure that many poor children get needed health care. Click to see whether your member of the US House and US Senate voted to expand the program or opposed it.

Based on trends in prior recessions, rates of violent crime will likely rise, hurt by police force cuts and and cuts in juvenile crime prevention programs.

Fewer children will be taking part in early childhood eduction programs, which are known to raise student test scores.

Black and Latino children, whose communities tend to be more sensitive to economic fluctuations, will be affected most by these changes.

As the 2010 election season gets close, Vote Kids will be reminding voters whether their member of Congress, Governor, or state legislature voted to help solve these problems or make them worse. Bookmark this site for future updates.

CBS News just released a poll showing that not only do Americans believe the recession has impact them, it has had a devastating impact on the lives of their children, their families overall and on others in their communities. Highlights include:

• 38% of parents say that the recession has affected their children’s lives today
• 80% of parents claim that the recession has had an impact on their family
• 60% of parents had to tell their children they didn’t have money for certain things
• 69% of parents and 67% of all American adults find the problem of uninsured children a “very serious” concern. Only 9% of Americans say this is not a problem at all.
• 20% parents say over the past six months they have delayed taking their children to the dentist, delayed a routine medical checkup, or delayed taking a child to a medical specialist for a specific treatment because of the recession. Lower-income families have been more likely to cut corners on medical care because of the recession. These percentages jump for families making less than $30,000 a year.

This is all part of CBS news’s excellent coverage of the specific issue of the recession and children. You can watch more in the video below and we will post any coverage of this survey.

The recession has impacted the health of children across the nation, but a special program has been created to provide free medical services for young patients.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Below is a clip from a series CBS News is doing this week on American parents and their children as they encounter increasingly dire situations of poverty:

Watch CBS Videos Online

On Wednesday, the National Public Radio program “On Point” examined the impact of the recession on children. You can listen to the show here or click here for more information:

The show examines the following questions:

It’s tough enough for adults to hear and take. But what about the kids? In families where jobs are lost. In homes where family budgets have gotten thin. In a society where high hopes are under fire and headlines are scary?

How are young Americans taking this economic crisis onboard? What are they asking, and being told? And will it shape them like the Great Depression shaped their grandparents’ generation?