N.J. to serve as model for poverty reduction campaign
By Scott Alessi
Staff Writer
PISCATAWAY — For the nearly 37 million Americans who live below the federal government’s established poverty line, help is on the way.
Catholic Charities USA is seeking the cooperation of local organizations and individuals across the country in rolling out its Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. By working with policymakers at all levels of government, the campaign aims to cut the number of people living below the poverty line in half by 2020.
“Partnership is the key to this campaign,” said Christin Driscoll, senior director for policy development and advocacy for Catholic Charities USA. “It’s not just about all Catholics; it’s not all about those who work for Catholic Charities; it’s really about calling our whole nation to working towards reducing poverty.”
Driscoll discussed plans for the multi-year campaign with representatives from the Dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton and the Archdiocese of Newark at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center March 2. She added that New Jersey, which has a poverty rate of 8.69 percent, will be used as a model state in the process of taking the campaign nationwide.
“New Jersey is leading the way,” Driscoll said. “Your colleagues across the country will learn from what you’re doing and will replicate what you do.”
Patrick Brannigan, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference, stated during his opening remarks that the bishops of New Jersey are committed to bringing the issue of poverty to the attention of state legislators.
“When the bishops sit down with the governor to make their case on behalf of the church in New Jersey, the first thing they are going to talk about is poverty and affordable housing,” said Brannigan.
Multi-year plan
The main initiatives of the campaign are to educate policymakers and the public on the depth of the issue and to encourage local Catholic Charities organizations and parishes to work with government officials on improving aid to the poor.
Catholic Charities USA has identified four major areas in need of legislative action, which are hunger, housing, health care and security. Among the goals for legislative reform in these areas are a strengthened food stamp program, more affordable housing, increased medical coverage for families and a more livable minimum wage.
“We could create change in our nation by improving public policies at both the national and local levels to make life easier for lower income people,” said Driscoll. “But that requires more people being aware of what’s happening.”
Driscoll added that poverty in America has extended to areas where one would not expect to find it. “We know it’s hidden in our suburbs with rising housing costs and other costs of living,” she said. “I think we see that more and more people in the middle class are struggling.”
State of need
Although the percentage of people living below the poverty line in New Jersey is less than the national average of 12.6 percent, the state has a high income inequality and is the third least affordable state in which to live.
“The income disparity in the state is growing faster than anywhere else,” said Joyce Campbell, director of community and government relations for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton. Campbell presented statistics from a recent report by the Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute, which looked at the realistic amount of poverty in the state.
“I think a lot of us know the federal poverty line really needs to be looked at,” Campbell said. The report claims that the actual cost of living in New Jersey is as much as 200 percent higher than the federal government’s estimate of $20,000 for a family of four. According to the Poverty Research Institute, the real annual cost of living for a family of three (one adult, one school-aged child and one preschooler) in New Jersey is $44,314, with the cost in some parts of the state reaching as high as $54,000.
Marianne Majewski, director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, is currently working on a plan to implement the campaign within the diocese and considers it a top priority. In particular, Majewski hopes to address the levels of income among the poor in the diocese.
“The most important thing to me is the living wage,” said Majewski. “Once we are able to establish one, and we are pretty far away from that at this point, a lot of other issues will fall into place.
“It’s a cycle you just can’t break without someone making enough money to minimally survive, and that’s not happening. That’s the biggest challenge in my opinion.”
The truth about poverty
Catholic Charities USA included the following statistics in their 2006 policy paper “Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good.” The data is taken from the 2005 United States census report:
The poverty line as established by the federal government is $20,000 for a family of four. The measurement used to calculate this number has remained the same since 1960, and Catholic Charities believes that this figure significantly under-estimates the number of people living in poverty.
- In 2005, 37 million Americans lived below the federal poverty line. This represents about 12.6 percent of the population.
- The number of people living in poverty increased by 5.3 million between 2000 and 2005.
- Two out of three families with incomes below the poverty line have at least one working family member.
- Nearly half of all Americans will experience poverty for a year or more in their lives by the age of 60.
- African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics are most affected by poverty, with 24.1 percent of African Americans below the poverty line. The rate of poverty in Native Americans is 23.2 percent and is 21.8 percent for Hispanics.
- 33 percent of African American children live in poverty, compared 28 percent of Hispanic children and 27 percent of Native American children.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law