Virtually every measure of social health bears evidence of a significant rise in economic distress. The poverty rate has soared over the past several years. Officially, 49 million people, more than 16 percent of the population, are living in poverty—set at little more than $22,000 for a family of four. The federal government, compelled to acknowledge that its income threshold is unrealistically low, recently estimated that 98 million Americans were living at or just above the poverty line in 2010.

Young families have especially suffered from the many consequences of the economic crisis, and above all the worst job market since the Great Depression. The lack of job prospects, poor wages, high housing costs, lack of medical insurance, crushing debt burdens, discriminatory credit rating practices, and inflation in basic necessities including food and fuel compound the difficulties facing working class families.

The living conditions of children have substantially worsened as a result. New census data indicate an official child poverty rate of 21.6 percent, the highest rate the government has recorded since it began tracking the data in 2001. In several states, the child poverty rate is closer to one in three. As extreme as they are, all the official estimates understate the reality, that millions of American youth are deprived of health, quality education, and nurturing environments because they are poor.



The ability of low-income families to afford adequate amounts of food has fallen. As a recent Gallup poll revealed, nearly one in five American workers are worried they will not be able to feed themselves or their families, a rate three times higher than among Chinese workers. The poll’s results, analyzed by the Food Research and Action Center, showed a “food hardship” rate of 23.4 percent for families with children.

In five states, the number of food insecure families was greater than one in four. Even in sparsely populated North Dakota, the state with the lowest rate, 15.3 percent of households with children were suffering from food insecurity. A multitude of metropolitan areas had rates of one in three or more. Such statistics reflect food insecurity on an epidemic scale.

One in four Americans depend on federal food assistance programs to make ends meet, according to the US Department of Agriculture. As need rises, food programs are being targeted for cuts at the federal and state levels.

Charities and food banks have been overwhelmed by families seeking help. According to food assistance organization Feeding America, emergency assistance is “becoming the ‘new normal’” among the poor. “Pantries are now a part of households’ long term strategy to supplement monthly shortfalls in food,” a survey by the organization found, noting that 54 percent of food bank clients were “frequent” visitors, meaning they sought help on a monthly basis.

Food banks are increasingly being used as a “coping strategy” for families who receive inadequate assistance through the federal food stamp program (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP), as well as for elderly people who are unable to make ends meet on meager fixed incomes.

Feeding America reported in late September that it currently serves 37 million people each year, up by 46 percent from 2006. This suggests that more than one in ten Americans turned to food pantries for help last year. The rate may be far higher, since many charities such as church-run food banks and soup kitchens may not be included in the Feeding America count.

Several states, including in the hard-hit industrial states of the Midwest, are promoting hunting as a means of countering rising hunger. On Tuesday Pennsylvania, where 1.4 million people suffer hunger, announced a venison donation drive in order to stock barren food banks and soup kitchens.

The situation is poised to worsen dramatically in the coming year. “We can also see the beginning of the ‘perfect storm’,” Feeding America warned.