New Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half

From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half


While thirty-seven million Americans living below the official poverty line, and many millions more unable to meet their basic needs, a mere 150,000 families or 0.01% of the nation’s population accounts for 5.5%of total income. As millions of homeowners face foreclosure and the value of the dollar continues to tumble, inequality in the Untied States has surpassed that of many developing and third world countries. While elective and cosmetic surgeries become ever more popular, the number of working Americans with health insurance continues to decline, exceeding forty-seven million people. And, while crime continues to decrease, the Untied Sates prison population continues to grow, topping 2.2 million people incarcerated, the cast majority of whom are poor and men of color.

As our inequality continues to grow and take an ever larger toll, our elected officials continue to ignore reality and since the end of John Edwards’ presidential campaign, poverty is not even an issue on the campaign trail. While Republicans and Democrats continue to squander billions on a failed war effort, social programs are forced to cut back, increasing the burden on working and low income families.

A new effort has been launched to address these inequalities in America, Half In Ten, a campaign to cut poverty in half within ten years. Spearheaded by former Senator john Edwards and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN), and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the campaign goals are to:

1) Elevate and sustain a focus on the situations facing the poor and middle class today (2) Build and strengthen an effective constituency to demand legislative action on poverty and economic mobility (3) Advance specific legislative and policy proposals that will deliver real benefits to struggling American families.

This campaign is based upon a report published by the Center for American Progress, titled From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half. The report lays out four principles that guide the campaign, they are:

• Promote decent work
• Provide opportunity for all
• Ensure economic security
• Help people build wealth

To realize the goal of cutting poverty in half within ten years, the report sets out the following twelve point agenda:
1) Raise and index the minimum wage to half the average hourly rate
2) Expand the earned income tax credit and child tax credit
3) Promote unionization by enacting he Employee Free Choice Act
4) Guarantee child care assistance to low-income families and promote early education for all
5) Create 2 million “New Opportunity” housing vouchers and promote equitable development in and around central cities
6) Connect disadvantaged and disconnected youth with school and work
7) Simplify and expand Pell Grants and make higher education accessible to residents of each state
8) Help former prisoners find stable employment and reintegrate into their communities
9) Ensure equity for low wage workers in the Unemployment Insurance system
10) Modernize means-tested benefits programs to develop a coordinated system that helps workers and families
11) Reduce the high cost of being poor and increase access to financial services
12) Expand and simplify the Saver’s Credit to encourage saving for education, homeownership and retirement.

The entire report From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half, can be accessed at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/poverty_report.html

The web site for Half In Ten From Poverty to Prosperity can be accessed at: http://www.halfinten.org/aboutus.html