- In suburban America, middle class begins to confront poverty, By Izhar Harpaz, June 23, 2012, NBC News: “The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colo., conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. But often these days, the closed doors of well-kept houses hide a decidedly different reality: hushed conversation about food stamps and Medicaid, depleted bank accounts and 401K’s, kitchen shelves stocked with groceries from food pantries..”
- Suburban families suffer through poverty, By Cary Aspinwall, June 25, 2012, Tulsa World: “Cindy Moore woke up one warm June morning to realize she had only a bag of rice to feed her three young grandchildren. So she and her sister drove the grandkids from Leonard to Bixby Community Outreach Center, where they received a cart full of groceries and some clothes to get by. ‘I promised my husband when he passed away that I’d take care of the family because that’s what you’re supposed to do,’ she said. ‘We might not have much, but we have love.’ Even in the area’s more affluent, rapidly growing suburbs, with relatively stable home values and employment rates, many families are hurting…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty