Ending poverty

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Most Americans don't understand poverty and until that changes we probably will not be able to end poverty in our country.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development conducted a nationwide poll in late December to learn what Americans know about poverty in the U.S.

The results, reported by Catholic News Service, were disappointing. For example, less than a quarter of those surveyed believed there are more than 21 million Americans living in poverty - actually there are 34.6 million people living below the official U.S. poverty line.

That misperception becomes even more amazing when Americans are asked how much income a U.S. family of four would need to cover their basic needs. Respondents, on average, said $40,000. Low-income Americans, when asked the same question, said, on average, $30,000. Compare that to the official U.S. poverty level income for a family of four - $18,400. Thus, most Americans think that a family earning twice as much as the official poverty level would still be living in poverty.

Part of the problem is how the government sets the poverty level, said Fr. Robert Vitillo, who heads the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. bishops' domestic anti-poverty program. Since the early 1960s, the Office of Management and Budget has determined the amount needed for all expenses by multiplying by three the amount of money needed to buy the food in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "economy subsistence food plan."

The problem, Fr. Vitillo said, is that in the early 1960s, food costs were much higher in proportion to the costs of housing, health care, energy and other essentials than they are today.

Other ways have been suggested to set the poverty level, including actual consumption of goods and services, measuring family resources or reassessing the total market basket of consumer goods and services used to set the figures. Some argue that food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing should be counted as income.

There's also a question of what basic necessities entail. For example, one economist said they are "not only the commodities which are necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without." The economist making that argument was Adam Smith in his 1776 book, Wealth of Nations.

There was some good news in the CCHD poll: 96% of Americans said it is important to decrease or eliminate poverty in the U.S.

Americans, then, believe in the need to end poverty. Now they need to learn more about the reality of poverty so we can do just that.