Quote of the Day, July 24, 2012
Josie went blind while we lived next door to her, and she lost her job because of it. Soon after, a social worker was able to help Josie get a job at the Lighthouse for the Blind making military apparel. The city bus for the physically impaired picked Josie up at her house at 5:00 a.m. every day and returned her home after 6:00 p.m. Even with this job, she did not make enough money to pay rent for her 600-square-foot apartment, utilities, medications, food and other necessities. She worked as hard as anyone I have ever known but did not complain about her plight.
Unfortunately, the norm I have witnessed in impoverished communities throughout the U.S. is that people are working very hard but are unable to get ahead. In fact, more than 13 million working families with children have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In Texas 78 percent of people living near or below the poverty line are working and have children. The poverty line in the U.S. is a gross income of $23,050 for a family of four.
– an excerpt from Perceptions of Poverty, a blog post by Jeremy Everett, director of the Baylor University School of Social Work’s Texas Hunger Initiative.
The Associated Press reports that 2011 census figures, to be released this fall, will show that U.S. poverty is at its highest level since 1965.
