OUR FIGHT
AGAINST POVERTY & HUNGER
Poverty by Ethnicity
Poverty by Age
Children in Poverty
In 2018, 16.2% of all children (11.9 million kids) lived in Poverty USA—that’s almost 1 in every 6 children.
In 2015, the National Center on Family Homelessness analyzed state-level data and found that nationwide, 2.5 million children experience homelessness in a year.
Seniors in Poverty
Though the official census data gives seniors a 2018 poverty rate of only 9.7%, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for expenses such as the rising costs of health care, raises the senior poverty rate to 14.1%.
The Economics of Poverty
Poverty Thresholds
Three people
Four people
Five people
Six people
Seven people
Eight people
Nine or more people
$19,985
$25,701
$30,459
$34,533
$39,194
$43,602
$51,393
Poverty thresholds are determined by the US government, and vary according to the size of a family, and the ages of its members. In 2018, the poverty threshold—also known as the poverty line—for an individual was $12,784. For two people, the weighted average threshold was $16,247.
Food Insecurity
The USDA estimated that 11.1% of US households were food insecure in 2018. This means that approximately 14.3 million households had difficulty providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line
Programs that we support
In the United States mothers and fathers go to prison at troubling rates. One of every 12 American children, more than 5.7 million kids under age 18, have experienced parental incarceration at some point during their lives (Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, 2016). About half of parents in prison lived with their children before their arrest or incarceration, and similar proportions of parents served as the primary source of financial support for their children (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2015). While there should be consequences for breaking the law, this national phenomenon of mass parental incarceration is unique in the world and perpetuates a compounding dilemma
The number of people in prisons and jails in the U.S. more than quadrupled since 1980. Right now, there are more than 2.2 million people incarcerated. Another 4.7 million people are under parole or probation supervision Punitive policing and sentencing policies have had a disproportionate impact on communities of color. While people of color comprise 37% of the U.S. population, they represent 67% of the prison population. African Americans are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and incarcerated than similarly situated white Americans. There has also been a 716% increase in women going to prison since 1980.
(The sentencing project) We intend to help change these statistics through the implementation and utilization of programs that we develop, support and partnership with.