Get The Facts .... Poverty in America Who Lives in Poverty? Poverty line = $17,600/yr for a family of three or $21,200/yr for a family of four in 2008. 39.8 million people (13.3%) lived below the poverty line in 2006. 13.4 million of them are children. 11.4% of Allegheny County residents (139,469) lived below the poverty line in 2004. 20.4% of City of Pittsburgh (66,369 people) lived below the poverty line in 2003. 9.9% of the elderly (3.7 million) lived in poverty in 2006. 12.6 million people in poverty in 2006 lived in the suburbs. Who Experiences Hunger? Hunger is the lack of access to sufficient food due to poverty or constrained resources. "At risk of hunger" or "food insecure" refers to the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources. In 2006, in the United States, 4% households (4.6 millions households) experienced hunger, which is a 3.9% increase from 2005. 10.9% of households(35.5 million Americans) were food insecure according to the USDA. In 2006, 492,000 Pennsylvania households were at risk of hunger. In an estimated 164,000 of these households, at least one household member experienced hunger. Who Needs Healthcare? In 2006, 46 million Americans have no health insurance. Over a third (36%) of families living below the poverty line are uninsured More than 9 million children lack health insurance in America Eighteen Thousand people die each year in the United States because they are uninsured Why Do WE Need Living Wages? Living wages would allow a person to pay for housing, food, transportation and other expenses without sacrificing one. A minimum-wage worker would have to work 87 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing. On average, 13% of homeless persons are employed in American cities. The real value of the minimum wage today is 26% less than in 1979, worth only $4.42 in real dollars. Many jobs don't pay enough to lift families out of poverty. In Pennsylvania, an estimated 207,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 2001 to 2008 -- a drop of 24.3 percent. . Who Needs Affordable Housing? "Affordable housing" is defined as housing that costs less than 30% of a household's total income. About 95 million people, one third of the nation, have housing problems including a high-cost burden, overcrowding, poor quality shelter and homelessness. There are almost 16 million Americans paying 50 percent or more of their income for housing. One in three American households spend more than 30 percent of income on housing, and one in seven spends more than 50 percent 2.2 million subprime home loans made in recent years have already failed or will end in foreclosure, costing homeowners as much as $164 billion 4.8 million low to moderate income working families spent more than ½ of their Predatory payday lending now costs American families $4.2 billion per year in excessive fees.   How Do Federal Assistance Programs Help? The government's responsibility is to provide for those who can't provide for themselves. Government programs like Food Stamps, WIC and School Meals are the first line of defense for people in need. In 2008, over 28 million people participated in the Food Stamp Program, 10.8 million more than in 2000. Spending on cash assistance or "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" (TANF) is less than 1% of the total federal budget. Only 60-70% of people eligible for food stamps actually receive them. $403/ month is the maximum PA TANF cash benefits for a family of three. (2008) How Do Food Banks and Pantries Help? When government programs are inadequate, private charities are forced to pick up some of the slack. America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, provided emergency food assistance to more than 25 million Americans in 2007 In 2006, 3.3% of all U.S. households (3.8 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times. Among food stamp participants, an estimated 1.4 million households are experiencing hunger. Among households not participating in the Food Stamp Program, over 4.4 million are food insecure, of which over 2 million are experiencing hunger. 2/3 of pantries limit visits to once a month or less because of limited resources. Many pantries rely on donated foods and volunteers. How Can I Help? Join Just Harvest today. Call 412-431-8960 to find out how. Contact your Congressperson and urge them to make federal assistance programs more accessible to poor people.