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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: September 5, 2012

Financial Hardship and the Near Poor – New Jersey

Report: More than one-third of New Jersey households either mired in poverty, or close to it, By Mark Spivey, September 3, 2012, MyCentralJersey.com: “Olivia Maxwell pauses, momentarily puzzled and maybe even a little taken aback by the question of whether she considers herself to be part of New Jersey’s middle class. Then it hits her – of the dozens of questions facing her every day, this one ranks pretty much at the bottom of the barrel in terms of importance. How many meals she’ll be able to squeeze out of a carton of eggs and a handful of packages of Ramen noodles – now that’s a question. The same is true of whether the shot brakes and worn tires on her aging Honda Accord are going to hold up for a little longer; if not, there goes a week’s worth of paid vacation, because her next paycheck won’t arrive in time to cover repairs, forcing her to stay home. Then there’s the question of whether she’s going to be able to afford summer camp for her 12-year-old son Quincy next year; she sure hopes so, because things came up just short this year and the look on his face ate her up inside…”

Household Food Security

  • Recession still hurting U.S. families trying to put food on the table, By Pam Fessler, September 5, 2012, National Public Radio: “The number of U.S. families struggling to put enough food on the table remains at record high levels, according to new figures out today from the government. One in almost seven households last year were what the government calls ‘food insecure.’ That’s about the same level as in 2010, but still far higher than before the recession. The problem finding enough food is especially severe among households headed by single mothers with children. Before the recession, about one in ten households had a problem getting enough to eat. But in 2008, things got a lot worse. And it’s pretty much stayed that way ever since. The Agriculture Department today said that almost 18 million households had trouble putting food on the table last year. And that in about seven million of those households, people didn’t have enough to eat…”
  • Hunger risks rose in 2011 along with food aid, USDA says, By Alan Bjerga, September 5, 2012, Businessweek: “The number of Americans who lived in households that struggled to afford food increased last year even as more participated in government nutrition-assistance programs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 50.12 million Americans were ‘food insecure’ at some point during the year, up 2.6 percent from 2010 and second to the record 50.16 million in 2009, the USDA said today in an annual report. A record 46.7 million people received food stamps in June, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier, the USDA reported yesterday…”