An article in Forbes Magazine disputes these stats on child poverty. Forbes, a leading source of news for American business and financial people in this country, published the assertion that the
statistics were unfairly twisted to suggest the level of poverty in the U.S. is higher than is true.
However, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that the number of poor kids (age 0-17) in the U.S. exceeds 20%. The OECD is an international economic organization of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
And the UNCF reports more than one in five
American children fall below a relative poverty line, which UNICEF defines as living in a household that earns less than half of the national median.
As in Fannie’s time, is appears kids in America have it rough even when at least one parent is working a full-time job. The Children’s Defense Fund claims more than 14.7 million children in America were poor in 2013, with more than two-thirds in working families.
The Heritage Foundation disputes
this and similar figures, publishing an article arguing many parents of poor children do not work full-time or year round, and that child poverty could be sharply reduced if these parents worked more.
There will always be disagreement and debate about how to handle the issue of poverty. But while the posturing continues and the arguments fly, it is the innocent and helpless who suffer. The largest group of impoverished children are age
0-3.
Our children thirst for hope. They hunger for compassion, and for leaders like Fannie to stand up for them. Whether one agrees with her methods or not, Fannie put her principles and all her resources into action. She did not relent in her efforts to help the poor, even when her life was at risk.
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