Poverty Statistics
March 14, 2006 · Print This Article
Just a few of the many alarming poverty statistics for you to chew on:
Illinois continues to have the highest child poverty rate in the Midwest and has since 2000. The percentage of children living in poverty is 17.7%.
An Illinois worker would need to work 2.4 full-time jobs at minimum wage ($6.50 per hour in Illinois) to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent price of $802.
Illinois women have higher poverty rates than men. In 2004, 13.3% of women were living in poverty compared to 11.5% of men. Illinois has the worst gender wage inequality of the five most populous states in the nation. In 2004, full-time, year-round working Illinois women had earnings of 69 cents for every dollar men earned. This is happening in spite of the fact that IL passed an equal pay for equal work law a few years ago.
14 million children in the US are living in poverty.
1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty (less than a dollar a day), and half (50%) of the world lives in poverty – as defined by not being able to provide basic necessities.
Every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes–one child every five seconds.
According to the UN’s 1997 Human Development Report (HDR) it would cost just $80 billion to provide access to basic social services and income transfers to the poverty-stricken – less than the net wealth of the worlds seven richest men.
$80 billion may sound like a lot, but global military expenditure and arms trade form the largest spending in the world at over $950 billion in annual expenditure, as noted by the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SPIRI), for 2003.
Americans spend more on cosmetics, $8 billion annually, and Europeans on ice cream, $11 billion, than it is estimated it would cost to provide basic education ($6 billion) or water and sanitation ($9 billion) to the more than 2 billion people worldwide who go without schools and toilets.
We can eliminate poverty, we just simply do not have the moral conviction or political will to do so – not the government or the billionaires, but WE do not seem to.
John14:11-14 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
There were a few things that we discussed last Sunday on which I wanted to comment. Maybe some of this is a result of my own spiritual shortcomings, but I thought I’d throw it out here to see if anyone else had some similar thoughts.
My first comment may be more of a theological opinion than anything, but I have a different perspective on the passage in Malachi that Gene referred to during the Blingonomics series. I had stated during our meeting that I didn’t think it was particularly wise to suggest that if you give money to God, that God will in turn bless you financially. I think it was Tim that suggested that God gives in the same manner in which we give. If I understood this correctly, that seems to suggest that if someone gives a thousand dollars that they should expect God to somehow give them the thousand dollars back. I think, as Gene later suggested, that God can bless us in other ways besides money even though we give money. I’d also like to admit that I don’t necessarily buy into the practice of taking a scripture and claiming that it applies to everyone for all of time. The passage in Malachi is a story of God addressing the “descendants of Jacob†and “the whole nation of you.†He tells them to “test me in this.†And if they do it (tithe), then He says to them that “all nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land.†It was a promise to them. Does that mean that God meant for that to be claimed by me as a personal promise in 2006? I’m not sure it does.
Regarding promises, I spoke with Bill Hybels a few years ago after as series of messages that he gave in which he seemed to suggest that God was promising a lot if someone became a Christian. In one message, he said that if you put God at the center of your life, that He will “deliver.†In a later message, he encouraged those who were far from God to “give God a chance†for the next year, and he promised that they would not be disappointed. And then he gave a message that included the illustration of God untying the ropes that bind us and gave a few examples of people that had been delivered from addictions, etc. To be sure, those results can accompany someone who follows Christ. But, in my opinion, to suggest that God is “promising†all of those things gives people unrealistic expectations. So, after reminding Bill of those examples from his messages, I asked him what it was that we could realistically expect from God. He responded by saying that God promises forgiveness of sin, that He will walk with us through everything, the gift of eternal life, and anything beyond that is grace. To me, that was a much more realistic belief in perspective of some of the realities in my life. As I’ve stated previously, God unquestionably has the power to do anything. But whether or not He’s willing to do something in a given circumstance is an entirely different question. Forgive me if this point is off topic, but I just felt the need to say it.
My second comment on our Sunday discussion is about when Brian stated that it’s easy to solve poverty. We then had a discussion about not focusing on the practical solutions and how God can only show His power if He’s behind what we’re doing. For some reason I thought of the following story which I’m sure most of you have heard.
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One day there was this preacher and he was having his usual sermon when all of a sudden it started raining, really, really, hard! After about one full hour of complete non-stop rain, they started making evacuations because the whole church was flooding, but the preacher just stood there in the ankle-deep water.
A guy in a car came up to him and said. “Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!” But the preacher just replied “Don’t worry God will save me.” The man then said “Whatever!” and drove away.
The water was now knee-deep and a guy in a raft came over to the Preacher and said “Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!” Despite the second warning the Preacher just stood there and replied “Don’t worry God will save me.” The man then said “Whatever!” and rowed away in the orange raft.
The water was now waist-deep and a guy in a power boat came to the Preacher and said “Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!” Despite the third warning the Preacher just stood there and replied “Don’t worry God will save me.” With that the man said “Whatever!” and jetted away in the power boat.
The water was now neck-deep and a guy in a helicopter came and said “Preacher, Preacher you better get your butt in here before you drown!” The man still just stood there and replied “Don’t worry God will save me.” And with that the man said “Whatever” and flew away.
The water then got so deep that the Preacher was sucked under and died. When he opened his eyes he noticed that he was in heaven. He then saw God and asked, “God! Why didn’t you save me from that horrible flood?” God then replied, “I sent you a car, a raft, a power boat, and a helicopter! What else do you want from me?”
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I think it’s reasonable to conclude that God wants those who are dying in a world of plenty to be cared for. And I understand the desire to not get entirely caught up in the details of a solution. But we also can’t just hope that “God will save us†from poverty. If it’s really true that we have the answers to ridding the world of poverty (because we’ve had the luxury of being able to think about it), then maybe, just maybe, God is saying, you know that I want the poor to be fed, and I’ve given you the means to accomplish that. What else do you want from me?
I heard an interesting story on NPR this morning about poverty simulations held by the city of Savannah. Participants assume new roles within low-income families and must navigate daily tasks with fewer resources. The goal is to give participants a taste of what these families face every day. Read or listen to it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5232545
We should recognize the economic stagnation of Illinois compared to the other states. After four years, Gov. Rod has some responsibility for this state of affairs.
More men are homeless than women. As far as gender wage differential, is that necesarily an injustice to be corrected? It is if you’re talking about women earning less for the same jobs done by men with equal experience and qualifications. It’s not if you’re talking about women with fewer continuous years on the job than the average man and women doing different jobs.
How many women apply to operate a garbage truck, for example? If virtually none seek such work, is it unjust that the men who do that dirty and strenuous work earn more than, say, a secretary?